‘No one’s more deserving’: Kucherov takes Bolts scoring crown from Stamkos

Nikita Kucherov can’t stop rewriting history.

The two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner became the Tampa Bay Lightning’s all-time leading scorer on Saturday, recording the 1,138th point of his career with the primary assist on Brayden Point’s first-period goal against the Utah Mammoth.

“He works so hard, and he leads this team with his work ethic,” Point said. “He’s passed some great players who have played with us, and to see him work at it and get it, no one’s more deserving than he is. He really puts in the work, and I’m really happy for him.”

Kucherov passed former teammate Steven Stamkos for the franchise scoring crown. Stamkos previously held the record over 1,082 games, while Kucherov needed just 890 games to overtake the mark.

Kucherov’s latest accomplishment comes mere months after he won his second league MVP honor in 2026 and is another bullet point on a resume that includes a trio of NHL scoring titles, back-to-back Stanley Cups and two Ted Lindsay Awards as the league’s most outstanding player.

The 33-year-old right winger becomes the eighth active player to lead their team in all-time scoring. That ascent was driven by Kucherov’s ability to constantly evolve his offensive toolbox since arriving to the NHL in 2013. 

He scored his first NHL goal in his first career shift, back when he wore No. 56 as a rookie and was called ‘Dmitry' in the goal call. History began that day, and Kucherov's climb up the franchise’s all-time list has been steady.

“He has accumulated a ton of points in his career. That’s what he does,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “He’s a special talent, and guys like him don’t come around very often. He’s given our fans at home a decade of pretty awesome performances.”

Kucherov is gunning for a fifth consecutive 100-point season. In 2025-26 he tied a career high by scoring 44 goals and established new career marks in even strength goals and points.

“His work ethic, his dedication to the game and his dedication to perfection has always been there,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “I’ve seen him the past five, six years and the way he works and tries to improve. The way he sees the game is fun to watch.”

Kucherov’s latest franchise record—one of nearly 20 in total—came in Saturday’s game against Utah. He fired a shot pass from the right wall to the net, where Point tapped the puck into the open cage to make it 3-1 on Kucherov’s record-breaking assist.

A smile showed as Kucherov's teammates flooded the ice to embrace and congratulate him.

“It means a lot,” Kucherov said of the record postgame before quickly crediting Stamkos along with other teammates past and present. “I appreciate everyone who’s played with me and been part of it.”

His answer came after Saturday’s overtime loss to the Mammoth, when his focus was clearly still on the game and how the Lightning could have been better. 

That’s usually the case for Kucherov, whose drive to win is often described as unmatched by those within the walls of Benchmark International Arena.

“When guys meet Kuch for the first time, there's a little bit of the awe factor of, ‘This is Nikita Kucherov’. I think we're all blessed and awed by his skill,” Cooper said. “But off the ice he’s quiet, stays to himself, does what you ask and gives everything he has on the ice. He's just a great guy to have around. I think there's a reason we've had some success in the past decade and a half, and one of the big reasons is Kuch.”

He could enter the league’s top 50 in career scoring as soon as this season—Jeremy Roenick ranks 50th with 1,216 points—and is quickly nearing Hockey Hall of Famer Sergei Fedorov’s 1,179 career points for third most by a Russian-born NHLer all-time.

Kucherov is one of the NHL’s most dynamic passers, and his teammates say he finds ways to slow the game down before picking it apart in a league focused on speed and pace of play. 

“We’ve had a lot of good memories together in playoffs and winning, and I’m really thankful to have played with him for so long because he’s elevated my game and my career,” Point said. “He’s a special player, and I’m just grateful to have played with him.”

The NHL’s all-time leading scorer, Wayne Gretzky, has repeatedly praised Kucherov’s vision and pass-first mentality.

“You look at some of the top players in McDavid, MacKinnon, Matthews, the one thing that Kuch has—probably as good or better than anybody in the game—is he sees the ice so well. He sees the open man,” Gretzky said. “His unselfish play is continuous each and every game, and that makes a guy like that fun to watch.”

Kucherov’s number will hang from the Benchmark International Arena rafters someday. He’s bound for the Hockey Hall of Fame whenever his playing days are over.

The Lightning forward already holds one of the most decorated careers in franchise and NHL history. He continues to get better, and he’s nowhere near finished after 1,138 points.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching every one of those points,” Cooper said. “You look at the list of the players that have played here—Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier, Victor Hedman, guys that have their names in the rafters—and he stands alone.

“…That’s over a decade of work of what he’s done. He’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats.”