Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov’s offensive production this season has been nothing short of stellar. During the Lightning’s game on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 32-year-old winger recorded his 700th career assist.
As Kucherov is on pace to compete for a third straight Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the player who finishes the season with the most points league wide, it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s also one of the fastest players to reach the 700 assist milestone.
According to Benjamin Pierce, the Lightning forward is the eighth-fastest player to reach the milestone in NHL history. He’s also only the third Russian-born player to hit 700 assists, with just Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins achieving the feat as well.
While Kucherov’s production has been incredible, it’s safe to say he won’t be able to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time assist record, as the Great One notched 1,963 of them during his career, but at this pace, it’s certainly possible we see Kucherov break into the top ten all-time before his career comes to an end. At just 32 years of age, there’s likely a lot of hockey left in Kucherov’s future and a lot more milestones for him to hit.