- Steven Stamkos says Nikita Kucherov told teammates he wanted to join McDavid and MacKinnon in a tier above everyone else
- Stamkos calls Kucherov a perfectionist who skated every summer day for years
- Read below for what Stamkos said about the Predators and his Hall of Fame outlook
Nikita Kucherov was already thinking about Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon hours after winning the Stanley Cup.
Steven Stamkos told that story in his weekly NHL Chat Room Q&A with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The interview took place before Kucherov’s trade request became public, but Stamkos was asked about his former Lightning teammate.
Stamkos was asked what he saw from Kucherov early that made him think the winger was special. He explained that nobody expected much from a second-round pick, and the work ethic is what changed the picture.
“He’s a perfectionist in terms of his craft and wanting to continue to get better every year. It just became an obsession for him,” Stamkos said. He put the turning point at least seven or eight years ago, when Kucherov started skating pretty much every day in the summer.
Stamkos was then asked about that obsession. He described a player who never looks satisfied, even after a three-point night.
“After we won the second Cup in Tampa, a bunch of guys came over to my house after, it was like 3 or 4 in the morning, we had the Stanley Cup, and he was talking about McDavid and MacKinnon, and he thought they were in this like huge tier above him and he wanted to get into that tier,” Stamkos said.
Stamkos added that Kucherov expects the same effort from everyone around him, and that it pushed him as a player too.
Kucherov passed Stamkos as the Lightning’s all-time points leader on Oct. 24. Here’s how our coverage of that night looked:
The trade request changed the tone of that story a week later. Stamkos spoke after Saturday’s shootout win in Nashville, and we ran what he, Victor Hedman and Brayden Point said. Kucherov and Stamkos also shared a laugh at the opening faceoff that night:
Stamkos has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 13 games this season, and he leads Nashville in scoring. He sits at 1,271 career points and 631 goals. The Predators missed the playoffs in each of his first two years with the team.
He was asked what Nashville is missing. Stamkos said there is “no magic wand” and noted that GM Chris MacFarland has been looking for a another center to help Ryan O’Reilly and has been working on the blue line.
He also admitted he has thought about the Hall of Fame. He said he is not losing sleep over it, but he does sense the end of his career is around the corner.
