Krenn: Handing out end of season awards

MVP Award - Nikita Kucherov

It was an MVP season for Nikita Kucherov, who skated in all 82 games and recorded 113 points, the second-highest single season point total in Lightning franchise history, trailing only his 128-point season in 2018-19.

Kucherov's 83 assists were also the second-most in a single season in franchise history, behind only his 87 assists from the aforementioned 2018-19 campaign. Among all NHL skaters, only Connor McDavid (89) finished the year with more helpers than Kucherov.

Kucherov was unstoppable on home ice for the Bolts, collecting a franchise record 66 points in 41 games at AMALIE Arena with 16 goals and 50 helpers, making him the only player in the NHL to notch 50 assists at home. In 41 home games, Kucherov recorded at least one point in 37 of them, including 18 multi-point efforts.

Not only was Kucherov the only player this season to hit the 50-assist mark at home. He was just the 18th player in NHL history to do so, and only the third player this century to hit that mark. When Kucherov is on the ice, don't blink. If he touches the puck, there's a good chance he'll make magic happen.

Tampa Bay wrapped up the regular season with the third-best power play in the NHL at 25.4% and, unsurprisingly, Kucherov had his fingerprints all over it. He finished the year with 50 power-play points, the most in a single season in Lightning franchise history and tied for the 12th-most in a single season among all NHL skaters this century.

In total, Kucherov factored into 70.4% of Tampa Bay's power-play tallies this season, making him just the 10th NHL player since 1940 to factor into greater than 70% of his team's power-play goals, excluding shortened seasons.

Operating on the half wall with the man advantage, Kucherov's game is all about deception. If he's looking left, he's probably passing right. If it looks like he's going to shoot, there's a good chance he's going to pass.

Former Bolts defenseman Luke Schenn was asked about Kucherov's game ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"He might be the most deceptive player in the NHL," Schenn said. "Wherever he's looking is where he's not passing."

Back in January, Tampa Bay forward Nick Paul said, "When you're on the ice with him, you expect the unexpected."

Manning the center position on Kucherov's line for most of the season was Brayden Point, who enjoyed a career season in 2022-23 and became just the third player in Lightning franchise history to score 50 goals in a season, wrapping up the year with 51 tallies.

Kucherov assisted on 38 of those 51 goals, including 26 primary helpers. In total, he factored into 40.4% of the goals scored by the Bolts this season.

Even though he had 83 assists and should be regarded as one of the best backhand passers of this generation, Kucherov's game goes well beyond dishing the puck. He can finish. That was proven with his sixth career 30-goal season in 2022-23, which tied Martin St. Louis for the second-most in Lightning franchise history.

And like his passing, Kucherov can beat you in a multitude of ways. We've seen him beat goalies on the backhand.

We've seen him rip wrist shots top shelf.

And, of course, we've seen him score countless goals with his one-timer.

Finishing the year with 30 goals and 83 helpers, Kucherov joined Joe Thornton as the only two players to record multiple 30-goal, 80-assist seasons this century. Additionally, he's one of just 10 players in NHL history to record multiple 30-goal, 80-assist campaigns.

It was a dominant season for Kucherov, who wrapped up the year with 31 multi-point contests and was held without a point in just 14 of 82 games. He also earned an 'A' on his jersey as one of the team's alternate captains.

"He's become a prominent player, not only on the ice, but in our locker room as well," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "He's one of those guys that has an influence on the team in such a positive way. He's really blossomed into a really influential and good leader in our room."

For me, Kucherov was Tampa Bay's most valuable player this season.

Best Single-Game Performance Award - Andrei Vasilevskiy's 45-save shutout at Detroit

In the first game of a brief, two-game road trip in late February, Andrei Vasilevskiy put on one of the best performances of his career with a 45-save shutout at Little Caesars Arena in a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

The 45 saves tied the fourth-most Vasilevskiy has ever recorded in a regular season game and set a new personal record for the most saves he's ever had in a shutout. And on a night that Tampa Bay only fired 18 shots on goal, the Bolts needed every one of those big-time stops from Vasilevskiy.

In an 82-game season, there are going to be nights that the team doesn't play their best. That's when a goaltender like Vasilevskiy can be one of the biggest difference-makers in the NHL.

He can almost single-handedly win a hockey game for his team, and he essentially did just that on that chilly Saturday night in Detroit.

"We put a lot of shots at him," said Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin after the game. "That's the story of the game. We couldn't get one by him.

"We had Grade-As. I think we played a pretty good hockey game tonight against a good team, but he was their answer tonight."

Just two nights prior, Vasilevskiy had his worst game of the season from a statistical standpoint, giving up six goals on 23 shots in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Traveling to Detroit the next day, Vasilevskiy was eager to get back between the pipes and respond.

"He wanted this one just because of how the last one went," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper after the game. "He didn't want to sit on it. He knows how he feels and he's such a competitor.

"Goalies want to turn the page and move on and get back in there. That's what he did tonight. He was outstanding."

Tampa Bay grabbed the 1-0 lead at the 9:04 mark of the first period when Nikita Kucherov found Brayden Point in the neutral zone before he sped in and chipped a perfect shot over the blocker of Ville Husso.

From there, it was all about Vasilevskiy, who continued to make remarkable saves that had both Detroit fans and players stunned.

Following Vasilevskiy's stop on Larkin early in the third period, the Detroit captain looked towards the rafters in frustration. Shortly after the whistle, a Red Wings fan was shown on the Jumbotron at Little Caesars Arena and all he could do was shrug his shoulders in acknowledgement of Vasilevskiy's dominance.

"As a team, when they come off poor losses, they dig in," said Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde when asked about the Lightning's performance after the game. "But no one digs in more than Vasy off a poor performance. He takes it personal, and he was just remarkable tonight."

Vasilevskiy faced four Red Wings power plays that night while Detroit out-chanced Tampa Bay 31-17 at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick. By the end of the night, Moneypuck.com had the Red Wings total expected goals at 3.54, based on their scoring chances. But nothing was getting past The Big Cat.

"He's one of those guys that are difference-makers in this league," said Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman. "We all know he's going to go down as one of the best to ever play in this league once he's done. It's a big confidence boost for us to have him back there."

Modest, as always, Vasilevskiy spoke with the media after the game and gave all the credit to the guys in front of him.

"I thought we did pretty well," Vasilevskiy said. "We scored some important goals. No odd-man rushes. Lots of outside shots and lots of blocks, so great job defensively by the whole team."

But despite those important goals and blocked shots, everyone in the building knew the reason Tampa Bay won that game. They won because of the best single-game performance of the season by Vasilevskiy.

Hustle and Determination Award - Brandon Hagel

After being acquired via trade during the 2021-22 season, Brandon Hagel was nothing short of spectacular in his first full season with Tampa Bay in 2022-23.

The 24-year-old winger brought a combination of speed and tenacity, earning the admiration of Lightning fans by giving second, third and fourth efforts while never quitting on a play.

Skating in 81 games during the regular season, Hagel recorded 92 takeaways, the second-highest total among all NHL skaters, trailing only Toronto's Mitch Marner, who finished the year with 104. And while Marner recorded 12 more total takeaways than Hagel, he also averaged an additional 2:38 time on ice per game. Looking at takeaways per 60 minutes, Hagel finished the year with a 3.65 average, the second-highest total behind Marner, who averaged .01 more at 3.66.

The NHL first began tracking takeaways during the 2005-06 season, right as Lightning Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis was entering the prime years of his career. Looking over the all-time single-season takeaway leaders in Tampa Bay franchise history, St. Louis has five of the top eight seasons, recording 60-plus takeaways every year from 2005-2010, as well as during the 2011-12 season.

But despite all those years of forcing the opposition to turn the puck over, St. Louis never recorded 90 takeaways in a single campaign, making Hagel the only player in Lightning franchise history to do so.

To put Hagel's puck hounding into even more perspective, only 14 players in NHL history have recorded more takeaways in a single season than Hagel's 92 in 2022-23.

"His engine's always going, and he never gives up on pucks," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper following a three-point night from Hagel in a 5-1 win over Montreal. "He's always around the net, just as he was for both those goals he scored.

"That was kind of Palat's spot for a lot of years and Hagel's fit seamlessly in there. He's been really good for us."

But for Hagel, his game went far beyond just takeaways. The Saskatchewan native took his offense to an entirely different level than he had in the past, finishing the season with 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points while setting new career-highs in goals, assists, points, plus/minus, power-play goals, power-play points and shots on goal.

Hagel became just the 11th player in franchise history to net 30 goals in a single season and led the Bolts with a plus-23 rating, while finishing tied for the third-most goals and fourth-most points among all Tampa Bay skaters.

For a large portion of the regular season, Hagel skated on Tampa Bay's top line alongside Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, as the trio earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous lines across the NHL.

"Everybody would love to play with Point and Kuch or Marner and Matthews, but until you do it, you don't know how hard it is," Cooper said. "Hages has that ability. He has the ability to check. He has the ability to score. That's why I call him the Swiss Army Knife type - because he can do it all.

"It takes a specific, special mindset to do that because, like I said, playing with superstars is not easy. He's found a way to play with everybody and excel. It's really, really helped us."

Another player Hagel meshed well with was Anthony Cirelli, who made his season debut in early December following offseason shoulder surgery. Prior to his debut, the Lightning's penalty kill ranked 20th in the NHL at 77.8%. From his return to the lineup through the beginning of March, Cirelli helped Tampa Bay's PK shoot up to 84.1%, the sixth-best in the NHL during that span.

Much of that improvement came with Cirelli and Hagel jumping over the boards as part of the Bolts' top penalty kill unit. Before Cirelli's return, the Lightning didn't score a single shorthanded goal, but following his season debut, Tampa Bay netted seven shorthanded tallies, tied for the seventh-most among all NHL teams during that span.

Hagel was tied for the team lead with three shorthanded points, while Cirelli was right behind him with two. The chemistry between the two continued to grow as the year went along.

Not only did the duo make it difficult for the opposition to generate offense, but they also began creating offense of their own with their skating and tenacity.

Hagel was a force for Tampa Bay all season long, and an easy choice for the Hustle and Determination Award.

Goal of the Year Award - Brayden Point's Beauty vs. Seattle

Brayden Point's road to his first career 50-goal season was filled with plenty of jaw-dropping goals along the way.

But one of those goals stuck out above all the others - his solo effort against the Seattle Kraken.

As Lightning fans saw with many of Point's goals this season, the whole play started with the shifty center buzzing through the neutral zone and taking a pass from Nikita Kucherov. By the end of the regular season, the duo had combined for 208 points with 81 goals and 127 assists.

Flying past the F3 in Andre Burakovsky, Point quickly fought through an attempted stick check by Vince Dunn before attacking the triangle of Adam Larsson and dancing right around the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.

"When he moves that quick, it's pretty hard as a defenseman," said Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman. "When he puts it through your triangle, you're pretty much beat right away.

"You can try to take the body, but he's pretty slippery. I had a front row seat right behind him. It was beautiful."

Once he got around Larsson, Point dashed in on Philipp Grubauer and flipped a perfect backhand shot off the far post and into the top right corner, all at full speed.

"Only a few guys in the league that can do things like that, and he's one of them," said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper following the game. "He's not only quick, but he's fast. The McDavids, the Points, Kuch - these guys can play at a high rate of speed, but they can do it with the puck. Everybody can skate up and back and stop and start all day.

"You do it with the puck. You do it with pucks in the air. The timing - it's so hard to do, and you're watching the best players in the world do it. It's really impressive."

Point's speed through the neutral zone gave opposing teams issues all season long.

And as Cooper mentioned after the Seattle game, Point has also shown a knack for making things happen with pucks in the air.

It was tough to pick just one, but the goal against the Kraken was one of the top goals scored across the NHL this season. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy some of the other beautiful goals Point scored along the way.

Best Moment of the Year Award - Stamkos Scores #500

It was a season of milestones for Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who recorded his 1,000th career point in December, scored his 500th career goal in January, and skated in his 1,000th career game in April.

Take your pick. Any of these could be the best moment of the season. But I'm going with the 500th goal that put Stamkos in an elite club of less than 50 NHL players.

Less than five minutes into a Wednesday night tilt in Vancouver, Alex Killorn collected the puck near the top of the left circle and made a beautiful toe drag around Ilya Mikheyev before sending a perfect pass to the back door, where Stamkos was waiting to tap home the historic goal, making him the first player in Tampa Bay franchise history to light the lamp 500 times with the club.

Similar to when Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the season in Winnipeg during the 2011-12 campaign, the Canadian crowd gave the Bolts captain a standing ovation to acknowledge his achievement.

"What I love about Vancouver, the fans are educated, and they appreciate the history of the game," said Lightning head coach and British Columbia native Jon Cooper. "They appreciate watching good players and you could see that by the respect they showed, so I'm really proud of that group of fans.

"When I got here 10 years ago, there would maybe be a couple Tampa jerseys in this crowd. I think with the success we've had over the last decade, our fan base has really grown and you saw by the number of Tampa jerseys that were in the crowd. Stammer's been a big part of that."

Scoring the milestone goal in his 965th career game, Stamkos became the 18th-fastest player in NHL history to hit the 500-goal mark. He's one of only 47 players in NHL history to score 500 goals and just the 23rd to score all of them with a single franchise. And yes, he's the only player in Bolts history to reach the milestone.

But why score just one goal on your big night when you can score three? Stamkos followed up his 500th career goal with a second tally late in the first period before burying an empty-netter with 1:22 remaining for his 11th career hat trick, making him just the eighth player in NHL history to register a hat trick in the same game as his 500th career goal.

"That's a game that you're going to remember for forever," Stamkos said after the game. "To do that and to have that story to tell for years to come, it's pretty special."

As Stamkos's career has rolled along, Lightning fans have seen his growth both on and off the ice. Some of that was on display after the game in the Tampa Bay locker room, where Stamkos made sure to thank his teammates for all the support throughout his journey to 500.

"The thing that probably made me the most proud was what he said to the team after the game and how he thanked everybody," Cooper said. "I've watched that kid grow into a man and a phenomenal leader. To be honest, he's a generational goal scorer. That's what he is."

It was a season filled with some unforgettable moments, but Stamkos hitting 500 takes the cake.

Most Improved Player Award - Mikhail Sergachev

With the departure of Ryan McDonagh last offseason, Mikhail Sergachev entered the 2022-23 season with more responsibility on his shoulders than ever before.

The 24-year-old defenseman responded with the best season of his career, recording a career-high 64 points with 10 goals and 54 assists, and leading all Tampa Bay defensemen with 23:49 average time on ice per game.

"He's the kid that, hopefully, now you start putting him in Norris Trophy discussions, because I think he's starting to command a bigger role," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "He's coming into his own - body, physically, mentally.

"To me, it's going to be up to him, but he's got superstar written all over him."

Sergachev finished second among all Bolts skaters in assists and ranked tied for fourth in points. His 54 helpers were the eighth-most among all NHL defensemen, despite earning his promotion to the top power-play unit a couple months into the season. From the beginning of March through the end of the regular season, Sergachev racked up 21 assists in as many games, the second-highest assist total among all NHL skaters during that span.

Additionally, Sergachev's 54-assist season goes down as the third-highest single-season total among all defensemen in Lightning franchise history.

Defensively, Sergachev's 55 takeaways this season were the second-most in a single campaign by any defenseman in Tampa Bay franchise history, trailing only Dan Boyle's 57-takeaway season in 2006-07.

He also blocked a career-high 149 shots, the eighth-most in a single season by a defenseman in Lightning franchise history.

The only player in NHL history to have played over 91 playoff games and won two Stanley Cups by the age of 24, Sergachev's 437 regular season games and 238 points are already the fourth-most for a defenseman in Lightning franchise history, while his 192 assists rank second.

"Sergy's blossoming into one of the best D in the league," Cooper said. "You get that one-two punch of him and Heddy and surround them with smart players. Those guys have really kind of turned their game up a notch."

Towards the end of the season, Sergachev was partnered with Darren Raddysh, who was a late-season call-up and became a big part of Tampa Bay's back end. After showcasing plenty of chemistry, don't be surprised if that duo opens the 2023-24 season paired together with plenty of expectation.

Sergachev was given a lot of responsibility in 2022-23 and continued to improve as the year went along. The Lightning will hope for even more from him heading into next season.

Rookie of the Year Award - Nick Perbix

After starting the 2022-23 campaign with two games as a member of the Syracuse Crunch, Nick Perbix got called up to the big club on October 17 and never looked back.

Perbix made his NHL debut October 18 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers and immediately gained the admiration of Lightning fans just three days later against the Florida Panthers when he laid a massive hit on Matthew Tkachuk.

Perbix finished his rookie season with 69 games played, scoring five goals and adding 15 assists for 20 points with a plus-11 rating. He averaged 15:24 time on ice per game, the fifth-highest total for a rookie defenseman in Lightning franchise history with a minimum of 60 games played.

Among rookie defensemen across the NHL, Perbix ranked first in plus/minus, fifth in both assists and points and was tied for the second-most goals.

His first career goal came in the form of a game-winning tally in just his ninth career contest.

"He's a really intelligent player and human," said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper following the game. "He thinks. You can tell how he processes things and that's how it translates into his game.

"He makes really smart outlet passes, and now it's just getting to the point of doing it under more and more pressure, because of the speed of the game. But you can see he's improving with each game.

"His first game, he probably would have changed because of nerves and all that. Now, he's growing confidence. Now, he's jumping into plays and making plays like that.

"He's been a very welcomed addition to our team."

Perbix was a pleasant surprise for the Bolts in 2022-23 and, watching him play, he certainly didn't look like a rookie defenseman. The one thing that really stuck out was his poise with the puck.

Perbix's 28 giveaways were the fewest among all Lightning defensemen with 50 or more games played. With Perbix on the ice at 5-on-5, Tampa Bay averaged 59.5% of the scoring chances and 53.1% of the high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

With his impressive play, Perbix earned a two-year contract extension in early January, keeping him locked in with Tampa Bay through the end of the 2024-25 season with an average annual value of $1.125 million.

His performance on the ice also secured a spot on Team USA for the 2023 IIHF Men's World Championship. Through six contests, Perbix leads the U.S. in total ice time and is averaging a team-high 19:39 time on ice per game.

With Erik Cernak signed long-term, along with the emergence of Perbix and Darren Raddysh, things are setting up nicely for the Lightning on the right side of the back end.

Three Stars Award - Brayden Point

Looking back on all 82 games, I used the following scale to determine the Three Stars Award. For every game a player was named First Star, they received three points. For Second Star, they received two points. For Third Star, they received one point.

The results:

Brayden Point - 50 Points

Steven Stamkos - 36 Points

Nikita Kucherov - 35 Points

Andrei Vasilevskiy- 35 Points