Tampa Bay Lightning Forward Nikita Kucherov has re-inserted himself into Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy conversations following a phenomenal month of January.
As it currently stands, Kucherov, the reigning back-to-back Art Ross Trophy winner, sits third in the NHL in points. He trails only Connor McDavid and Nathan Mackinnon of the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche respectively.
Importantly though, McDavid has played seven more games than Kucherov and they are currently tied in points-per-game pace with 1.71. MacKinnon, who has played two games less than McDavid is slightly ahead of the others in that metric, with 1.72. However, with a couple months still remaining in the season, there's plenty of time for Kucherov to close his 12-point gap to McDavid.
Despite averaging less ice time in January than any other month this season, Kucherov was on an offensive tear. He had 31 points, nine of which were goals, in just 13 games. While that's far from a sustainable pace, it has catapulted him up the leaderboards.
For reference, McDavid played in 14 games and tallied a total of 24 points. While that stat line is certainly one of the best in the NHL, it falls quite short of what Kucherov was able to accomplish.
In large part due to Kucherov's offensive consistency over the past 30 days, the Lightning were almost unbeatable. They lost just two games over the course of January, and are one of the league's hottest teams at the time being.
It'll certainly be interesting to see if Kucherov can carry his superhuman pace into the Olympic break and beyond. If he's able to do so, there's certainly a chance he finds a way to win a third straight Art Ross Trophy when the regular season comes to an end.