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Kucherov: Cap Crunch or Cup Crunch?  - July 9, 2021 - Vol. 74, Issue. 8

HATERS GONNA HATE. Virtually everyone not cheering for the Tampa Bay Lightning cried foul over Nikita Kucherov’s surgically repaired hip healing exactly in time for Game 1 of the playoffs, when his $9.5-million cap hit no longer counted. But that wasn’t his fault.

And, regardless of how murky his recovery timeline was, he did come back from hip surgery and deliver one of the greatest post-seasons in recent memory, a dizzying flurry of snipes, slap passes and feints calling to mind the best years of Mario Lemieux. Kucherov’s 32 points gave him the playoff scoring title for a second straight year, and he became the fifth player in NHL history to reach 30 points in multiple post-seasons.

The 2019-20 and 2020-21 regular seasons belonged to Edmonton Oilers superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. As recently as 2018-19, however, it was Kucherov exploding for 128 points, the most of the salary-cap era, and he’s since added consecutive Stanley Cups.

McDavid is the best player in the world, but Kucherov showed in the 2021 playoffs that he has as strong a claim as anyone to the No. 2 spot. “The guy’s just a special, special player, a big reason why we’re here celebrating, a big part of this team,” said left winger Blake Coleman. “He’s on another level. I don’t know anybody else that could miss the entire regular season, come back and do what he did. He deserves a ton of credit. He’s a great player, great teammate, great friend, just a great guy to have in the room.”