As Nikita Kucherov crossed the blue line along the right wing and collected a pass from Victor Hedman, he surveyed the ice in front of him. And like few players can, he made a remarkably difficult play look simple while leaving an entire arena astonished.

On a team that has multiple high-end players, Kucherov is leading the Bolts in scoring by a margin of 19, accounting for 47 helpers, 68 points and a plus-14 rating through 42 outings this season.