Nikita Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov
Born (1993-06-17) June 17, 1993
Maykop, Russia
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Tampa Bay Lightning
CSKA Moscow
National team  Russia
NHL Draft 58th overall, 2011
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2011–present

Nikita Igorevich Kucherov (Russian: Никита Игоревич Кучеров; born June 17, 1993) is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Juniors

Kucherov originally played professionally in his native Russia, for CSKA Moscow, of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected 58th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning. In an attempt to transition to the North American style, Kucherov played major junior hockey with Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

Tampa Bay Lightning

During the 2013–14 season, on November 25, 2013, with his first shot, on his first shift, against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Kucherov became the seventh player in Lightning history to score a goal in his NHL debut.[1] On October 28, 2014, he recorded his first career hat trick against Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes.[2]

During the 2014–15 NHL season, Kucherov had a breakout season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kucherov posted 29 goals, 36 assists, and 65 points. Kucherov also tied for the NHL lead in plus-minus with Max Pacioretty at a +38 rating. The +38 rating also set the Lightning single season franchise record for +/- rating.[3] On May 20, 2015, Kucherov joined Martin St. Louis as the only players in Lightning history to record two game winning goals in overtime in a single playoff year, having scored a winner that evening against the New York Rangers; he had scored one in Game 1 of the prior round against the Montreal Canadiens.[4]

On October 11, 2016, the Lightning re-signed Kucherov to a three-year contract worth an average of $4.766 million per season. Last season, Kucherov led the team in points (66) and was second in assists (36) and goals (30). Kucherov also set a career high in goals, points, power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (4). He also ranked second on the team in shots (209) and power-play goals, while also leading the team with 19 multi-point games. He also skated in 17 Stanley Cup playoff games with the Lightning last season, scoring 11 goals and 19 points to go along with a plus-13 rating. He led the team during the playoffs in goals and points. He also finished second for goals and sixth for points in playoff scoring.[5]

International play

On March 2, 2016, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation named Kucherov to its roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Kucherov is being joined by Lightning teammates Nikita Nesterov, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The tournament is set to take place from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016, in Toronto.[6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Krasnaya Armiya MHL 53 29 25 54 40 5 0 2 2 2
2010–11 Krasnaya Armiya MHL 47 27 31 58 81 10 5 8 13 16
2010–11 CSKA Moscow KHL 9 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Krasnaya Armiya MHL 23 24 19 43 40 7 3 1 4 0
2011–12 CSKA Moscow KHL 18 1 4 5 4 — — — — —
2012–13 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 6 3 7 10 2 — — — — —
2012–13 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies QMJHL 27 26 27 53 12 14 9 15 24 10
2013–14 Syracuse Crunch AHL 17 13 11 24 10 — — — — —
2013–14 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 52 9 9 18 14 2 1 0 1 0
2014–15 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 29 36 65 37 26 10 12 22 14
2015–16 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 77 30 36 66 30 17 11 8 19 8
KHL totals 27 1 6 7 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 211 67 81 148 81 45 22 20 42 22
Medal record
Representing  Russia
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2013 Ufa
2012 Canada

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Russia WJC18 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 7 11 10 21 6
2012 Russia WJC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 7 2 5 7 2
2013 Russia WJC 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 7 5 3 8 4
2016 Russia WCH 4th 4 2 1 3 0
Junior totals 21 18 18 36 12
Senior totals 4 2 1 3 0

Awards and honours

References

  1. ↑ "Kucherov provides early debut goal". TBO.com. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  2. ↑ "Kucherov hat trick leads Lightning past Coyotes". NHL.com. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  3. ↑ Tampa Bay, Lightning (June 19, 2015). "Infographic: Highlighting the Bolts Record-Breaking 2014-15 Season". Tampa Bay Lightning. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  4. ↑ Burns, Bryan (April 20, 2015). "Nikita Kucherov's overtime winner gives Bolts 6-5 win in Game 3". Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ Tampa Bay, Lightning (October 11, 2016). "Lightning re-sign Nikita Kucherov to 3-year contract". Tampa Bay Lightning.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ Peters, Chris (March 2, 2016). "World Cup of Hockey: Ovechkin, Malkin lead NHL-only Russia roster". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Prospects report from World U18's". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-04-10. Retrieved 2011-04-10.


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