ESPN: Tampa Bay Lightning have just announced the return of their 24-year old veteran star to their starting roster…..see details

While assisting on Brandon Hagel’s goal in the first period of the Lightning’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nikita Kucherov earned his 900th point in his career.

Kucherov becomes the third player in franchise history to reach the mark, joining Steven Stamkos (555-582—1137) and Martin St. Louis (365-588—953). Additionally, he has reached 600 points faster than any other active player, trailing only Sidney Crosby (677 points) and Connor McDavid (602 points).

Good job!

In the National Hockey League, Nikita Kucherov became the seventh player of Russian descent to surpass the 900-point mark. pic.twitter.com/29UElwATY5 in the tweet

The Lightning selected Kucherov in the second round of the 2011 NHL Draft, at number fifty-eight, but he has already proven to be a first-round talent. In 2018–19, he set a new single-season record for points among Russian-born players with 128 (41 goals, 87 assists), earning him the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. He was also named the Hart and Ted Lindsay Trophies’ most valuable players.

After scoring 30 goals in his debut season in 2015–16, Kucherov increased that number to 40 in 2016–17, then in 2017–18, he finished third in the NHL in scoring with 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists), contributing to the Lightning’s Atlantic Division championship.

He set a new single-season record for points by a Russian-born player in 2018–19 with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists), which was simply a prelude to his breakout season. He scored seven goals and added twenty-seven assists for a total of thirty-four points in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which the Lightning used to win their first title since 2004.

Kucherov helped the Lightning win their second consecutive Stanley Cup in 2021–22 after sitting out the whole regular season due to hip surgery. In 23 postseason games, he returned to form, scoring 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists). He became the first player since Mario Lemieux (1991–1992) to lead the playoffs in scoring without a tie in consecutive seasons, becoming the sixth man to do so with 32 points, 19 of which came on the power play.