Making Kucherov's case for the Hart Trophy

Wrapping up a historic regular season Wednesday night at AMALIE Arena, Nikita Kucherov entered rare air as he became just the fifth player in NHL history to record 100 assists in a single campaign. Setting a multitude of Tampa Bay Lightning franchise records and joining exclusive clubs featuring the likes of Hockey Hall of Famers like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, Kucherov completed the regular season as the NHL's leading goal scorer to capture his second career Art Ross Trophy. 

Kucherov will look to add to a trophy case that already holds one Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, along with two Stanley Cup rings. In the greatest offensive season in Lightning history with countless achievements, here are some of the statistics that jump off the page.

2023-24 Season Statistics (As of 4/17/24)

• Leads the league in percentage of team goals he factored into (had a point on) – 50%
  • Seventh player in NHL history to factor into over 50% of his team’s goals.
• Fifth player in NHL history to record 100 assists in a single season, joining Connor McDavid and Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr
  • Third player in NHL history with 40 goals and 100 assists in a single season (also: Gretzky and Lemieux)
• Most assists by a winger in a single season in NHL history
• Biggest point disparities between first and second-placed scorers, NHL:
  • 1. Kucherov and Point – 54 points
  • T2. Panarin and Trocheck – 43 points
  • T2. Pastrnak and Marchand – 43 points
• Recorded 54 assists on the road this season, the most since Gretzky had 57 in 1990-91. 75 road points (most in NHL and 15 more than closest skater). 69 home points (third in NHL).
• NHL leader in points (144), power-play points (53) and assists (100, tied). Tied for first in even-strength points (91), which is tied for the most by any player this century.
• Franchise records
  • Lightning single-season franchise records in assists (100), points (144), even-strength points (91), power-play points (53), multi-assist games (26), three-assist games (11, tied), four-assist games (4), multi-point games (41), three-point games (23), four-point games (8, tied) and five-point games (3).
  • Set Lightning franchise record for longest assist streak (13 GP), tied for the longest among all NHL skaters this season.
  • Fourth 100-point season. Only player in Lightning franchise history with multiple 100-point campaigns.
• Has held NHL lead in points (outright or tied) for 129 days, 97 more days than any other skater
• Recorded 11 three-assist games in a single season for the second time in his career. The only players in NHL history to record 11 three-assist games in multiple seasons are Kucherov, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Joe Thornton
• Recorded 23 three-point games. The only players in NHL history with that many three-point games in a single season are Phil Esposito, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Bernie Nicholls, and Steve Yzerman.
  • Leads this season, ahead of MacKinnon and McDavid (17 each)
• Fourth player this century to record 60 primary assists in a single season. His 62 are tied with McDavid for the NHL lead.