Nikita Kucherov doesn’t pay too much attention to individual accolades.
There would be plenty to keep track of if he did, the latest being one of the highest marks an NHL player can receive. Kucherov on Thursday was announced as the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season MVP.
“It means a lot to me,” Kucherov said, adding that having success for the same organization that drafted him makes it even more special.
Kucherov was one of three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy alongside Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid.
Voters decided Kucherov was most deserving of the trophy, the second of his NHL career (also: 2019). Martin St. Louis (2004) is the only other Bolt to ever win the award.
Tampa Bay began this past season with a 1-4-2 record through seven games, and Kucherov led his team out of the slow start. He went on to score 104 points over a 50-game stretch later in the year, marking the most points by any NHL player over a 50-game span since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.
His 130 points in 2025-26 were 42 more than the next closest Bolt. Kucherov led the NHL in points per game (1.71) while finishing second in assists (86) and even-strength points (92). He scored his 1,000th career point in October.
He is only 14 points shy of passing Steven Stamkos as the franchise’s all-time scoring leader.
“One of the great things that makes Kuch Kuch is he's never satisfied. He could have 50 goals one year. Well, he wants to get 51 next year. Could have 100 assists one year, he’ll want 110 the next year,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said…“But ultimately, he doesn't put that above the team. He would trade that trophy for the Stanley Cup anytime. Those are the guys you want to have around.”
Cooper was on hand to surprise Kucherov with the Hart Memorial Trophy last week at the Lightning practice facility.
Cooper entered the arena alongside Kucherov and faked a back injury so they could go to the trainer’s room together to chat with athletic trainers Tom Mulligan and Mike Poirier, who were set to tell Kucherov they needed to go to the locker room.
Kucherov snuck through everyone and walked into the locker room, where the Hart Memorial Trophy greeted him under shining lights.
“Myself and our trainers, we had every exit cornered. It’s probably like the games, I don’t know how he gets through,” Cooper said with a laugh. “I think he thought it was a joke in the beginning. I wasn’t sure if he was like, ‘Wow, did I actually win this?’ But he definitely knows now.”
The NHL’s MVP has already begun his usual dedicated summer regimen of offseason training in preparation for 2026-27. Kucherov usually returns to the ice after a single week off, focusing on the finer details of the game.
That’s part of what’s allowed Kucherov to build a Hall of Fame career, one that will end with his number hanging from the rafters at Benchmark International Arena. He becomes the 20th player in NHL history to win the Hart Memorial Trophy multiple times and the fourth active player alongside Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.
He is the fifth winger all-time to win the award multiple times, joining Ovechkin, Bill Cowley, Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur.
“There’s some big-time players in this league, but Kuch is right there with them,” Cooper said. “You’re playing in the best league in the world, and then there’s still guys that rise above. You cant argue right now that Kuch isn’t standing at the peak of that mountain. It’s incredibly impressive to be a part of and to watch and to be this close for a decade now.”
The Lightning claimed three of the NHL’s top honors in the Jack Adams Award (Cooper, top coach), Vezina Trophy (Andrei Vasilevskiy, top goaltender) and Hart Memorial Trophy in 2025-26.
Despite his latest addition to the trophy case, a busy offseason of training won’t look any different—or lighter—according to Kucherov, who maintained last week that his sole objective remains another Stanley Cup.
That didn’t surprise Cooper at all, saying that remains the goal for everybody.
“I think the great thing about our sport is it's the Stanley Cup that everybody wants. I think the individual awards, you look back in your career and you're pretty pumped that something like that happened. I listened to Vasilevsky, and all he talks about is how the team won this, the defense, the blocked shots, all those things. That's what he talked about. And for me personally, this isn't a Jon Cooper award. I go through Rob Zettler, Jeff Halpern, Dan Hinote, Brian Garlock, Nigel Kirwan, Frantz Jean, those are the guys that really do it for you,” the Lightning coach said.
“It's kind of a team over self mentality with this group. The frustrating part is you're accepting this award while the Stanley Cup Playoffs are still going on, and you're not in, and I think that's the part that’s the stinger, but it's also the motivational part to make sure that we come back next year and do it.”
