Nikita Kucherov's Second Hart Trophy Win Was A Long Time Coming

Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov is a Hart Memorial Trophy winner for the second time in his NHL career.

That's right – Kucherov's only won the Hart Trophy twice.

Given that the last time Kucherov won the Hart was back in 2018-19, it feels like it's almost been too long since he was given the honor as the league's most valuable player. Remember that particular verbiage, because it's important.

The Lightning consistently remain a playoff team in no small part because of the value Kucherov provides to them each and every season.

The Hart Trophy specifically goes to the NHL's most valuable player – not the league's most outstanding player, because that's who the Ted Lindsay Award goes to. You can definitely make the case that Kucherov has more value with the Lightning than any other star player has with their team, and 72 members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association would agree with you.

The voting results were incredibly tight, with Kucherov getting just 10 more voting points than Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid. For context, the points allocation is 10-7-6-3-1 for the order of the top five.

Kucherov got 72 first-place votes and was on 196 of 198 ballots.  McDavid had 68 first-place votes and appeared on all 198 ballots, while Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon finished third with 52 first-place votes.

Now, Kucherov was a Hart finalist for the third straight season of his 13-year NHL career, so most of the voters for the Hart do consistently give him significant respect.

While the 32-year-old matched his career high of 44 goals, Kucherov's 130 points this year were less than his career-best effort back in 2023-24, when he posted 44 goals and 144 points. So you'd think more voters could've and should've given Kucherov more "most valuable" votes that year than the 50 first-place votes he received.

That said, the Hart Trophy that season was given to Colorado Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon, who had 51 goals and 140 points, along with 137 first-place votes.

Even last year, Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy for the second straight year for leading the NHL in scoring, but he finished third in voting, and Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck won the Hart Trophy.

We're not here to tell you MacKinnon and Hellebuyck weren't worthy Hart winners those years, but you can make a good case for several winners of the Hart as being Hart-worthy, year in and year out. And ultimately, Kucherov has maintained his superstar play, and he deserves his flowers for consistently being an all-world talent.

This is why it feels like Kucherov should've won more Hart Trophies by now. It's not Kucherov's fault he hasn't, but he's been so consistently valuable to the Lightning that other players have had to be absolutely incredible to win the Hart Trophy over him. There could be a better job of clarifying the difference between "most valuable" and "most outstanding," though.

Kucherov can take comfort knowing he's already done something only three other players have done in the Salary Cap Era – and that's winning multiple Harts. The other three are McDavid, Pittsburgh Penguins icon Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals star winger Alexander Ovechkin. Now that's heady company.

Thus, Kucherov probably should've won at least one more Hart Trophy by now, but when he retires and likely becomes a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer, he can point to his resume and let his multiple Hart wins and slew of other individual and team accomplishments speak for themselves.

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