MVP Award: Nikita Kucherov

I’m running out of words to describe the greatness that is Nikita Kucherov.

The two-time defending Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL’s leading scorer is once again among the top offensive players in the game, and somehow his play seems to keep improving with each game.

Kucherov has 29 goals and 91 points through 51 games and is only five points shy of tying Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid for first in the NHL, despite McDavid playing seven more games. He’s averaging 1.78 points per game to lead all NHL players, and his 62 points at even strength are 18 more than Brandon Hagel, who sits second on the Bolts with 44.

He’s got eyes in the back of his head, and his playmaking continues to amaze. He hasn’t been afraid to fire the puck either, sitting just eight goals shy of tying the 37 markers he tallied last season.

I’ll leave you with this crazy stat:

In his last 25 games since Dec. 9, Kucherov has 57 points. That’s more than the leading scorer on 15 NHL teams for the entire 2025-26 season, including Anaheim, Calgary, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Jersey, the New York Islanders, Philadelphia, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver and Washington. – Benjamin Pierce 

The SportsCenter Top Play of the Midway Mark: Andrei Vasilevskiy & Jake Guentzel

Let’s start by calling out the obvious: this is the wildest this category has been in some time. So far, ’25-26 has been the season of the big play, with an uncanny number of titanic moments entering the Bolts stratoshpere. There was Kucherov’s 1,000th point, Jon Cooper’s 1,000th game, the crazy shootout win over Chicago, the Stadium Series comeback, all the workings of the 15-game point streak—the list goes long.

But the most insane moment of them all—the play you’re showing the aliens to illustrate the vast merits of hockey—was Andrei Vasilevskiy’s double skate save into Jake Guentzel’s OT game-winner over the Oilers.