The Dominance of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov

Even though we’re only a month into the season, there have been more than enough surprising storylines across the NHL. The New York Rangers only have three wins in 11 games while the Montreal Canadiens are doing even worse with only two wins in one less game. The Edmonton Oilers have only scored 20 goals in nine games while the Vegas Golden Knights are one of the best teams in the league. There’s no denying that there’s been no shortage of unexpected outcomes so far.

However, one narrative that has been stifled by the rest of the news has been the sheer dominance of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Even though there were lingering doubts that the Tampa Bay Lightning could bounce back after the season they had last year, Stamkos and Kucherov have single-handedly brought them to the top of the league with a 9-1-1 record. Stamkos and Kucherov have brought their play to a whole new level this season and their dominance has also extended into fantasy hockey.

In only 74 games last year, Nikita Kucherov managed to tally an outstanding 40 goals and 45 assists, making him the fifth highest point scorer (and second highest goal scorer) in the NHL. But that was only the start, as this year he is on pace to obliterate those totals. And Steven Stamkos has done even better, being the only skater to score more points than Kucherov so far this year. In 12 games, Stamkos’s 21 points and Kucherov’s 19 points by far outpace any other skater, as the next closest player is Jakub Voracek with 16 points. But it’s not just their outstanding point totals that put Stamkos and Kucherov over the top in fantasy hockey. Using our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool, we can clearly see that there is a huge divide in value between Stamkos and Kucherov and the rest of the skaters in the league (using an average 12-team H2H Yahoo league measuring G, A, PPP, SOG, Hits, W, SV%, GAA, and SO in our rankings).
 

Both Stamkos and Kucherov’s point totals are very impressive, as they clearly blow everyone else out of the water. But what’s even more incredible is the huge gap in value that exists between the two Lightning forwards and all the other skaters. Stamkos and Kucherov are the only players with an FHG Value over 90 (and Stamkos is way over 100) while there’s not another skater who even breaks 70. The next closest player in value is Evander Kane, with a FHG Value of 69.

Besides the point totals, Kucherov and Stamkos are also excellent contributors in shots on goal and power-play points. Stamkos leads the league with nine power-play points while Kucherov is sits at second with eight (tied with Shayne Gostisbehere). Kucherov has also taken the seventh most shots in the league while Stamkos is in the top 25 most shots by any player. They aren’t the best of contributors in the hits category but they don’t even need to, as their value is still crazy high without amazing hit numbers.

Everyone knew Stamkos and Kucherov were elite players (evidenced by their 6th and 7^th overall average draft positions respectively), but nobody expected them to be this dominant to start the season, even surpassing Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. It may be hard for them to keep up the pace, but fantasy owners should be quite pleased with their start to the season, as they have completely destroyed the competition.