Be disappointed in playoff exit, but don't doubt Nikita Kucherov's hunger

TAMPA, Fla. — It might be easy to put the blame on Nikita Kucherov for the Lightning’s third straight first-round playoff exit, but just know that he’s taking it harder than you.

And don’t forget that Kucherov — not just his skill, but his dedication — remains one of the biggest reasons for believing that the Lightning can get back to the mountaintop.

“I think everybody dialed in and bought into the system and tried hard and did everything they can,” Kucherov said Friday during the Lightning’s end-of-season media availability. “We just came out short. That happens, too. But we just want to make sure we come back stronger and more experienced and eliminate the mistakes we’ve made this year, and the previous year, and learn from that and move forward.”

The season wrapup brought out a version of Kucherov that we rarely see. Thoughtful, engaged, determined. All qualities that his teammates rave about but he hesitates to reveal outside the Lightning locker room.

Kucherov likely would be the first to say the past three playoff series haven’t been his best. He hasn’t scored a goal in the 15 postseason games dating to Game 1 of the Lightning’s first-round series against Toronto in 2023. He’s averaged less than a point a game over that stretch, which is very un-Kuch-like.

The past two postseasons, the Panthers have focused on pressuring Kucherov, and in a series where space is tight, he’s had little room to operate.

“Everybody just has got to execute under pressure,” Kucherov said. “That’s a tough skill. And when you’re not executing under pressure, you’re making mistakes and the game goes sideways sometimes and you’re not feeling good. I think that’s what happened, but that’s a tough skill to execute under pressure and them being aggressive. So it’s something to learn for everybody here in our room.”

You could argue that this year’s series was closer than the five games it took to decide and could have changed with a couple of fortuitous bounces.

Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois pointed to the final moments of Game 2, when the Lightning were down a goal with a 6-on-5 and Kucherov quickly took the puck off the wall and scooped it to the front of the net for Brayden Point, the same kind of pass that Kucherov has executed marvelously numerous times that led to a goal. It didn’t that time. A Florida stick got in the way, and seconds later the Panthers scored an empty-net goal and had a 2-0 series lead.

Kucherov made a remarkable play in Game 3 that got the Lightning going, chasing his own dump-in behind the net. As two Panthers skaters closed in, Kucherov took the puck off the wall, braced for a hit and made a back-handed pass to Jake Guentzel closing in for a go-ahead goal in 4-on-4. If the Lightning had held their Game 4 lead to tie the series, that’s the play that turns the series.

“What Nikita Kucherov does in the NHL, he makes it look really easy,” BriseBois said. “The level of difficulty is incredibly high. That’s why no one else plays like him. That’s why no one else produces like he does. ... I think it comes with being a superstar, that the expectations are what they are, they’re sometimes unrealistic.”

“He did a lot of good things for us,” BriseBois added. “I know because the coaches went out of their way to mention how good he was on the bench, how positive he was on days off, how he’s one of the leaders that was selling what we needed to get our players to buy in for us to be successful. Kuch is a genius, and like many geniuses, he’s sometimes misunderstood, and I am ecstatic that he’s on our team, and I wouldn’t want him any other way.”

Last summer, Brandon Hagel spent the summer working out with Kucherov, and it’s no coincidence that Hagel had a 90-point season. Anthony Cirelli’s offensive game took a huge step forward after working with Kucherov in the offseason, and on Friday, Cirelli was named a top-three vote getter for the Selke Trophy for the first time in his career.

Kucherov makes those around him better on the ice, and he makes those who put the time in to work with him great.

“Just overall, just the drills that he does, working on your edges, working on your hands and picking up pucks and all those little things that help throughout the game that could turn into big things,” Cirelli said. “… Just going through his drills and just going through those motions, I think helped a little bit just with maybe the offensive touch side of it.”

More players want to learn this summer at Camp Kuch. And it’s right around the corner.

“You know, if you want to come, it’s (starting) next week,” Kucherov said.

“To come in August, It’s like, ‘Well, I’ve been working for three months.’ … I’m happy guys are willing to come earlier and put work in because we have free ice, free gym. I mean, everything you want here. Trainers are here. You want treatment, it’s here. So I think it’s the best place to really put everything outside and just focus on your game, your skill and what you’ve got to be better at.”

Hagel made the huge jump this season after learning at the altar of Kucherov. And surely others will be in Brandon early to take hundreds of pucks off the wall and work on drills with Kucherov to get better. Kucherov sees the talent here, and the potential of better days ahead.

“I saw the work (Hagel) put in, and we spent a lot of time on the ice together, and we did so many reps together, and I think it helped him feel more confident in certain plays,” Kucherov said. “And he’s a hell of a player, and he proved it this year, and I think he still has a lot of room to improve and be a way better player than he was this year.

“And that’s what is exciting for me, to play with these types of players that have the potential. And for a lot of guys in our room, I think they all have things to improve and be even better. So we’re not sitting here next year after the first round.”

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