The finalists for the Hart Trophy were released yesterday, and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is among those on the list. Kucherov is the favorite to win the award after scoring 128 points during an historic regular season. No one has scored that many points since 1995-1996, which was well before the salary cap era.
While he’s deserving of the award for his regular season play, his disappointing post season including getting suspended for a crucial game three with his team down 2-0 will cast a shadow over his win in the short term.