Hard-working Kucherov leads Lightning into Stadium Series vs. Bruins 

Jon Cooper thinks back to the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he made Nikita Kucherov a healthy scratch twice in four games, and jokingly wonders what in the world he was thinking at the time.

"I look back now and I'm thinking, 'Geez, how am I still coaching in this league?' " Cooper said.

In fairness to Cooper, Kucherov was a rookie in 2014. He played 52 games in the regular season and had 18 points, nine goals and nine assists. He was a second-round draft pick three years earlier, No. 58 in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Kucherov was a scorer at every level before getting to the NHL, so he was expected to be one in the NHL too, but he was not viewed as some kind of prodigy that every scout pegged as a can't-miss talent. If he was, he'd have been at the very least a first-round pick.

"All players are a work in progress," Cooper said.

And at that point, when Cooper scratched the then 20-year-old for Games 3 and 4 against the Montreal Canadiens, there was no way of knowing that that the now 32-year-old right wing would become one of the greatest players of his generation.

That's exactly what Kucherov is now.

He is a three-time winner of the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading regular-season scorer; with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists) in 2018-19, with 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) in 2023-24 and with 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists) in 2024-25.

Kucherov is a two-time winner of the Ted Lindsay Award (2018-19, 2024-25), given to the most outstanding player in the regular season as voted on by his peers, members of the NHL Players' Association.

He won the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player to his team in 2018-19 and is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning, finishing the 2019-20 playoffs with 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) in 25 games and 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in 23 games in 2020-21.

The Lightning also reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and 2022. Kucherov had 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 26 games in the 2022 playoffs, and 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in 23 games in 2022.

Kucherov leads the Lightning and is tied for 20th in the NHL all time with 171 points (53 goals, 118 assists) in 152 playoff games.

In the regular season, he has 1,076 points (384 goals, 692 assists) in 851 games, which is second all-time in Lightning history behind Steven Stamkos (1,137 points). He has 82 points (27 goals, 55 assists) this season, which is third best in the NHL.

All of those numbers are why he will be in the spotlight when the Lightning play the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series outdoors at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

"There's so many good players in this League, but so few great players," Cooper said. "To be a great player you have to be incredibly consistent the entire time. With Nikita, he is incredibly consistent. I always say to him, 'Just demand excellence, you don't have to demand perfection.' I truly believe that he believes that he has to demand perfection. Sometimes he can be way too hard on himself with what goes on out there, but I think that's what makes him what he is. The standard that he holds himself to is so incredibly high and he works tirelessly to make sure he is still at that standard. It's pretty cool to watch.

“You talk to any player and ask who works on the craft the most and the hardest, and 100 percent he'll be the guy they say."

Cooper is spot on.

Kucherov's peers know exactly the reason why he is among the best hockey players in the world right now.

"It seems like through word of mouth now, he works on his game very hard in the summers and always working on little things, little skill type plays that he finds himself in those situations in games come the season," Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane said. "Obviously, all that work pays off."

Nick Paul is one who heard the talk about Kucherov's work ethic when he was playing for the Ottawa Senators. He said he was even surprised to learn it was all true when he came to the Lightning through a trade in 2022.

"But then you see him in the summer and you see how much he works on his game and how much practice and repetition he puts in, and you kind of just know that he's going to do the unexpected," Paul said. "If there is no hole there, he's going to find a way. At this point, it's just 'Kuch.' "

Said teammate Brandon Hagel, "I'll continue to say it, the work he puts in and the stuff he does in the summer, there's no doubt he's making plays because of it. Expect the puck all the time."

And Lightning forward Brayden Point, "It's one thing to see the ice like (he does), but it's another to also have the amazing talent that he has to make the plays. And I think the biggest thing is as good as he is, and we see out all the time, but he works. He works so hard at his game. He's always working on his game. It's a big inspiration for the rest of us."

To his credit, Kucherov doesn't like talking about himself or the things he does well, probably because he's constantly working on his game and doesn't believe he does any one thing particularly well enough. It's why he's not quoted in this story about him.

But his peers, including opponents he turns inside out on a nightly basis, have no problem talking about Kucherov and what makes him special.

"Kucherov is just doing things different out there than everyone else," Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said.

Said St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas, "I love watching the way he can slow it down, make plays, the vision he has and how he can handle the puck in traffic."

Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel marvels at Kucherov's creativity.

Utah Mammoth forward Clayton Keller used words such as "smooth," "smart," and "deceptive" to describe Kucherov.

"Learning about the power play the last couple of years, I have really liked to watch him and how he operates the half wall, how many different options he has and how smart he is to open plays up," Keller said. "He's definitely a guy that I'll watch every single game if I'm not playing."

Kane said the same thing.

"If you're that guy that's an off shot playing your off wing, you find yourself in the dot to hash mark area of the ice, that's the guy you want to watch, because he's a master at it," Kane said. "He's incredible at knowing what he's going to do with the puck before he gets it, and then obviously he's so smooth. So much skill. His ability to be a shooter and a passer makes him so dangerous, because you don't know which one he really wants to be or which one he's going to defer to. He just makes the right play. But he's the guy for me now that I'm watching to see what he's doing, how he's producing, how good he is on the power play."

Kucherov wasn't getting that kind of praise early in his career.

No one who watched him closely denied the talent; the question was more how to get it all out of him.

Cooper, who has coached Kucherov his entire NHL career, admits mistakes he made early on.

"That's how we grew together," Cooper said. "It wasn't roses all the time. Part of my job is to figure out the personalities of these guys and what makes them tick. I know what makes Kuch tick now. I did not know that in 2015. That was a scramble for me and sometimes I fault myself and some of my tactics for trying to motivate him when I was not educated enough on his personality and the Russian culture in general. That was part of my learning too, reading up on how the culture is in Russia versus how it is here, and that helped me considerably."

That Cooper has had the opportunity to grow with Kucherov, and vice versa, has enabled the two to have a connection that goes beyond what is typical among coaches and players in the NHL.

Cooper said he has seen that connection manifesting itself in Kucherov's comfort level as the years have gone by.

"You have to manage him over motivating him," Cooper said. "First of all, you have to manage his expectations at times. At times if frustration sets in it's a delicate balance because if there is one player who can manufacture something out of nothing it's Kuch, but there are times when that's not needed. I think he's come such a long way because he never used to say anything on the bench, and now he's saying things like, 'Get the puck deep, boys,' or, 'Shoot it.' Those are things he would never say earlier in his career. That's how you see the growth in him as a player, teammate, everything."

And today, Cooper says the following with a directness that speaks to the seriousness of his statement.

"It is well known in Tampa Bay Lightning lore the past decade who our best player has been and he's owned up to it," Cooper said. "And by best I mean on and off the ice."

If all goes to plan, Kucherov will pass Stamkos, who is now with the Nashville Predators, as the Lightning's all-time leading scorer at some point next season, and he'll do it in fewer games.

"He's special," Hagel said.