{"id":3858,"date":"2026-06-12T16:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3858"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:06:17","slug":"lightnings-nikita-kucherov-wins-his-2nd-hart-trophy-as-the-nhls-mvp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3858","title":{"rendered":"Lightning\u2019s Nikita Kucherov wins his 2nd Hart Trophy as the NHL\u2019s MVP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

TAMPA \u2014 A strong argument could be made that Nikita Kucherov hasn\u2019t gotten his due for the spectacular stretch he put together the past three seasons, over which he was the league\u2019s top point producer.<\/p>\n

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The Lightning right wing led the league in scoring the first two seasons but didn\u2019t receive the Hart Memorial Trophy, which goes to the player deemed most valuable to his team, after either.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t win a third straight scoring title this season, mainly because he played in six fewer games than Edmonton\u2019s Connor McDavid, who finished eight points ahead of Kucherov\u2019s 130. Still, Kucherov led the league in points per game for the third consecutive season, his 1.71 topping McDavid\u2019s 1.68.<\/p>\n

Thursday, Kucherov finally won his second career Hart Trophy, beating out fellow finalists Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado and McDavid. It comes seven years after Kucherov won his first, following the Lightning\u2019s Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning season in 2018-19.<\/p>\n

Kucherov became just the 11th player in league history to win multiple Harts and multiple Stanley Cups. Pittsburgh\u2019s Sidney Crosby is the only other active player to achieve the feat, and the other nine are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

The Hart winner is decided by a vote of select members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association based on regular-season performance. What might have separated Kucherov this season in the eyes of voters was a scoring stretch that hasn\u2019t been seen in three decades.<\/p>\n

Over a 50-game span from Nov. 15 to March 21, Kucherov amassed 104 points (33 goals, 71 assists), the most over any 50-game, regular-season stretch since Mario Lemieux during his 69-goal, 161-point Hart Trophy-winning season in 1995-1996.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a misunderstood genius, but he\u2019s a fabulous player,\u201d Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said at the end of the regular season. \u201cAnd the standards are so high. The standards he sets himself are really high. The standards that the hockey world sets on him are really, really high.\u201d<\/p>\n

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During that stretch, Kucherov carried the Lightning to a 35-13-2 record, part of a 2025-26 campaign that saw Tampa Bay overcome a litany of injuries. He produced consistently despite playing within several different line combinations. He had multiple points in 40 of his 76 games and had more games of three points or more (19) than he did games without a point (16).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy does it on a daily basis,\u201d Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel said earlier this season. He\u2019s best in the world. He puts the time in that no one does and doesn\u2019t care if anyone sees, never talks about it in the media that he\u2019s on the ice, working on his game every single day. This guy played fourth-line minutes when he first came to the league, and now he\u2019s leading the league in points on a yearly basis and continues to do it every single year. I don\u2019t think you can name another guy like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kucherov\u2019s 130 points were 42 more than his closest teammate \u2014 Jake Guentzel had 88 in 81 games \u2014 the second largest gap between a team\u2019s top two scorers. San Jose\u2019s Mackin Celebrini\u2019s 115 points were 56 more than Will Smith\u2019s 59.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just does everything at a high level and he thinks the game at a high level that we\u2019re just lucky to watch it day in and day out, the daily grind that he puts in,\u201d Guentzel said. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky to play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to leading the league in points per game, Kucherov ranked first in even-strength assists (57) and multi-assist games (25). He was second in assists (86), even-strength points (92) and multi-point games (40). He was third in plus-minus (plus-43) and fourth in even-strength goals (35), power-play assists (29) and multi-goal games (eight).<\/p>\n

Combined with his 144-point season two years ago (when he finished second in Hart voting to MacKinnon), Kucherov became the 10th player in NHL history to put together multiple 130-point seasons.<\/p>\n

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Thursday, Kucherov finally won his second career Hart Trophy, seven years after winnign his first, following the Lightning\u2019s Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning season in 2018-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nLightning\u2019s Nikita Kucherov wins his 2nd Hart Trophy as the NHL\u2019s MVP - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lightning\u2019s Nikita Kucherov wins his 2nd Hart Trophy as the NHL\u2019s MVP - 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