Over the last 10 seasons, Nikita Kucherov has operated at a ridiculous 1.46 points per game pace. During that span, he has won three Art Ross Trophies, two Ted Lindsay Awards and two Hart Memorial Trophies. Since entering the NHL in 2013-14, no player has recorded more playoff points than Kucherov, who has produced 177 in 159 games. He has also helped lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to two Stanley Cups.
What makes Kucherov's dominance so impressive is that he has never relied on the physical tools that can typically separate elite offensive players.
He isn't an explosive skater and doesn't possess exceptional straight-line speed. He doesn't have an imposing frame or overwhelming physical strength that allows him to overpower NHL defenders. Instead, he maximizes what he does have through exceptional edgework, balance and directional changes, allowing him to create separation in small areas without needing to outrun the player defending him.
His puck skill is another story entirely.
Kucherov has some of the most exceptional puck skill in the NHL. His lightning-quick top hand and incredible feel for the puck allow him to manipulate it into different positions while maintaining control, giving him more time and more options to solve whatever problem the game presents.
But even those skills don't fully explain his dominance.
What separates Kucherov is his ability to process the game. He constantly recognizes patterns, takes in new information and applies it in real time. He anticipates how a play is going to develop before it happens, then uses that understanding to manipulate the game around him.
He changes his pace to influence defenders. He identifies passing lanes before they open. He disguises his intentions and creates uncertainty for opponents. He understands where space is going to appear and puts himself in position to take advantage of it.
Kucherov isn't simply reacting to the game in front of him. He is constantly manipulating what happens next.
That combination of pattern recognition, processing, anticipation and manipulation has made him one of the most dominant offensive players in the history of the NHL.
Understanding What The Puck Sees
One important concept that many of the game's best scorers understand is the difference between what our eyes see and what the puck sees.
When a player looks at the net, they are looking forward and slightly down toward it. The crossbar is four feet above the ice, while the player's eyes are considerably higher than that. The closer the player gets to the net, the more pronounced this difference in perspective becomes.
That creates a visual illusion. From the shooter's perspective, the upper portion of the net can appear more open than it actually is.
But the puck doesn't follow the same visual path as our eyes.
As it leaves the stick, the puck travels forward while also moving upward off the ice. Its trajectory is therefore different from the line of sight between the player's eyes and the net.
This means the openings the puck can actually travel through can be very different from the openings that appear available to the shooter.
The puck is roughly six feet from our eyes when it's directly in front of us, but that distance isn't fixed. Even with the puck close to our body, the difference in perspective between our eyes and the puck is significant. As we move the puck laterally outside our body to load into a shooting motion, that distance increases, making the difference in perspective even more pronounced. At that point, the player's eyes and the puck are looking at the net from two distinctly different positions.
Kucherov is exceptionally good at understanding this difference and using it to manipulate the angles available to him. He can move the puck further outside his body as he loads his shot, amplifying the discrepancy between what his eyes see and what the puck can actually see. By changing the relationship between his eyes, the puck and the net, he can manipulate the available shooting angles and decide where to place the puck, whether that means going high or low, short-side or far-side, depending on the position of the goaltender and the opening available to him.
Finding The Next Lane
Kucherov applies the same understanding of puck position when he is looking to make a pass. Rather than simply accepting the passing lanes available to him, he can manipulate them by changing where he controls the puck.
Moving the puck outside his body changes the angle from which he can pass, allowing him to navigate sticks, defenders and other obstacles in extremely tight areas. A lane that doesn't exist when the puck is directly in front of him can suddenly become available when he moves the puck laterally.
But Kucherov's ability to find passing lanes goes beyond manipulating the puck. He is constantly processing how the play is developing around him, recognizing patterns and anticipating where lanes are going to open before they actually do.
He doesn't just see the lane that exists. He sees the lane that is about to exist. He'll often position himself to access that lane, then delay until the precise moment it opens.
Baiting
One signature element of the way Kucherov manipulates plays is his ability to bait opposing players.
There are three layers to reads within the game. The first is being able to recognize patterns, process the play and read how it is developing. The second is adding the ability to anticipate, then deviate and change the plan of attack based on that read. The third is being able to manipulate how that play develops.
Kucherov, like many other elite players, operates within that third plane of intelligence. However, Kucherov takes that concept to a level that nobody else in the game can replicate. He adjusts his pace, often slowing down, widening his stance and placing the puck in areas where he has the highest level of control while he works to quiet the ice, pulling in and dragging opponents all over the ice as he sees fit.
He has a way of forcing opponents to focus all of their attention on him. Part of that comes from the contrast of Kucherov slowing down in the middle of a fast, chaotic sequence. Part of it comes from opposing players being fully aware of the offensive threat he poses. Even when opponents understand the trap Kucherov is setting, their instincts cannot help but pull them out of position to chase him.
Everything Kucherov does is with purpose.
There are two integral purposes behind the way Kucherov is able to pull opponents all over the ice. The first is to force opponents to leave their positions, creating quiet ice in high danger areas for his teammates to move into. The second is to force opponents to physically move, pulling them out of passing lanes so Kucherov can make plays that penetrate into the middle.
One underappreciated element of Kucherov's ability to bait in opponents is that he regularly tricks them into removing their sticks from passing lanes. He will move, causing an opponent to mirror his movements. That often leads to the opponent neglecting their stick positioning as they focus on Kucherov with the intent of engaging, effectively opening the lanes that Kucherov wants.
Kucherov isn't simply drawing defenders toward him. He is manipulating their positioning, their momentum and even their stick placement to create the exact parameters within which he wants the play to develop.
Deception
Likely the most deceptive player in the league, Kucherov is an absolute nightmare to defend against.
He possesses so many elements of deception and has the ability to combine multiple forms into one sequence, often leaving defenders frozen and unable to accurately predict or anticipate Kucherov's next move.
One crucial element of Kucherov's ability to deceive is the way he shifts his weight and changes his posture as he uses his edges. While using his edges, he can deceive by digging in or slightly dragging his weight-bearing foot, subtly changing the expected speed of his movement. He pairs this with expert weight shifts, creating uncertainty around exactly when and where he is going to move.
His body language is deceptive as well. Dropping his shoulder, slightly opening his hips or changing his posture can all alter what a defender expects him to do next. These subtle changes become especially effective in situations that require defenders to rapidly process and apply new information, giving Kucherov the opening he needs to attack.
Kucherov's true defining factor when it comes to his deception, however, is the way he leans on his stick to freeze defenders.
Both passing and shooting motions begin in a similar way kinetically. The puck is moved outside the body and loaded onto the stick, with both actions following a similar weight transfer and hip torque through the early stages of the movement. Kucherov is able to exploit this similarity, making it extremely difficult for defenders to determine whether he is preparing to pass or shoot.
This technique for deceiving defenders is wildly effective, and Kucherov has absolutely perfected it. He uses it in a variety of scenarios, whether off the rush or in small areas. Timing is of the utmost importance within this construct of applying deception, and Kucherov executes it with ease, completely disguising whether he is looking to pass or shoot.
That deception causes defenders to freeze, giving Kucherov the time he needs to thread a pass through a seam or release the puck uncontested.
He will often use this method to open the passing lanes he wants. Kucherov is constantly scanning and processing, applying new information as scenarios develop. There are often moments where his game plan is visible and it is evident what play he wants to make. But a stick can be in the way, a defender can be in position or another obstacle can prevent the lane from opening.
Rather than simply accepting that the lane is unavailable, Kucherov uses deception to manipulate the defender into giving him the passing lane he wants. He will load the puck outside his body and lean heavily on his stick, freezing the defender and manipulating their positioning until the passing lane he wants becomes available.
Kucherov isn't just disguising his intentions. He is using deception to influence what the defender believes is coming next, then using their reaction to create the opportunity he wants.
PowerPlay Strategy
Tampa Bay's PowerPlay has run through Kucherov for the last decade, and he has developed a very distinct strategy that is insanely difficult to stifle because he has so many weapons within his arsenal. He positions himself in a way that consistently maximizes his options, giving him clean lanes to each player within Tampa's 1-3-1 setup. A player like Kucherov becomes ridiculously dangerous when he has a variety of options to choose from.
His entire PowerPlay strategy revolves around a chess game. He facilitates puck movement to get opposing penalty killers moving, and whichever opponent rushes out to chase and leaves their position, Kucherov moves the puck to where that player should have been, creating a high-danger scoring chance. His strategy on the PowerPlay is largely predetermined, with different variations built into the structure that account for the opposing team's PK formations. Kucherov simply selects the option that the opposing penalty kill gives him within each individual play.
If the strong-side forward rushes out to chase or abandons his position within the penalty kill formation, Kucherov's first look is to make a pop play to the bumper. Tampa strategically rotates right-handed forwards into that bumper position to capitalize on the plays that the left-handed Kucherov can make from his flank position.
His favorite target in this position is long-time teammate Brayden Point. However, this season there have also been situations where Oliver Bjorkstrand, as the weak-side flank, runs a switch with Point as the puck is distributed around the zone. Both are right-handed forwards with a quick release who can capitalize on Kucherov's quick plays to the bumper position.
If the strong-side defenseman is the player who leaves his post, Kucherov's attention turns to Jake Guentzel, who acts as the net-front and pop-out option for the Lightning. If Guentzel is in his pop-out position, he will often drive the net. If he is in his net-front position, he will quietly slip to the weak side, setting up a cross-crease seam for Kucherov to thread the puck through.
If neither of the strong-side penalty killers leave their formation, Kucherov is more than comfortable shooting the puck. With his release, pinpoint accuracy and the aforementioned ability to understand what the puck sees, Kucherov is just as dangerous as a shooting threat as he is when distributing the puck.
He has a perfectly placed one-timer within his arsenal. However, he is particularly dangerous when he catches the pass and uses his deceptive stick lean as he shuffles his way toward the middle, giving himself a wider range of shooting angles to exploit.
Route Selection
Kucherov's ability to recognize patterns and process information in real time gives him an innate sense of anticipation that he applies to his route selection. Within each play, there is a specific window of time and space on the ice where a player can receive the puck. The first step is identifying that window of time and space, and the second is arriving in that area at the right time.
Kucherov recognizes this and understands where these areas are going to exist before they happen. He is able to see fragments of how a play is developing and calculate the probabilities of how it could play out. He then works himself toward the areas that are likely to become the perfect window of time and space to receive a pass within the construct of that specific play.
There are situations where Kucherov will speed up and accelerate toward a specific position on the ice with urgency before a play has fully unfolded, only to find himself arriving in that area at the perfect time as his teammate looks to make a play.
Conversely, Kucherov will slow down and weave his way through traffic with purpose, quietly slipping into coverage and getting lost within the development of the play. He works his way into open space without drawing attention to himself, allowing him to arrive in the right place at the right time and maximize his effectiveness in creating scoring chances.
Taking Pucks Off The Wall
A defining trait of Kucherov's game is his ability to cleanly take pucks off the wall. He demonstrates a level of control that is unreplicable among the vast majority of players in the league.
There is a visible strategy behind the way he controls these challenging pucks off the wall. Everything comes down to placing awkward pucks into areas where he can easily control them.
On his backhand, Kucherov will place his stick along the boards and absorb the puck before quickly popping it out toward the middle of the ice. His ability to get the puck off the wall and into a controllable position allows him to turn what should be a difficult retrieval into an immediate offensive opportunity.
His exceptionally quick top hand allows him to handle and corral pucks that would be nearly impossible for most players to control, particularly when hard rims come with significant velocity and there is limited time and space to react.
If the puck comes off the wall with heat, Kucherov doesn't simply try to stop it. He redirects it toward an area where he can handle it with ease and control, manipulating the puck's trajectory before he ever fully possesses it.
Instead of fighting the velocity of the puck, Kucherov uses its momentum to his advantage. He has perfected the ability to handle rims that most players would struggle to simply stop.
Kucherov's greatness isn't defined by one skill. It's the combination of all the small details that allow him to consistently dictate how a game unfolds.
He sees the game differently than any other player in the National Hockey League. He recognizes patterns, anticipates intricacies within how plays are developing, manipulates defenders, disguises his intentions and constantly adjusts his positioning, pace and puck placement to create the outcome he wants.
The most impressive part is how consistently he does it. Shift after shift, Kucherov is gathering information and using it to solve the next problem in front of him.
That is what makes him so difficult to defend and so fascinating to study.
Kucherov isn't simply playing the game.
He changes the way we see it.
Chris Whalen
Chris Whalen is a Player Development Expert, Hockey Analyst and former OHL Executive with nearly a decade of experience in OHL Hockey Operations. Through executive management, scouting, video coaching and player development, Chris has built a career around analyzing the game and breaking down the decisions, habits and details that separate players at the next level.
Whales' Whiteboard is independent hockey analysis built from hours of video research, with the goal of helping fans see the game a little differently.
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