Every year, a few gems fall in the draft for various reasons. Maybe it’s size. Maybe it’s concerns about skating. Maybe it’s because of outdated worriesa bout drafting players of certain nationalities. Maybe the player was just a late developer. Nikita Kucherov has become one of the best players in the NHL and (almost) every team in the NHL passed up on him, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, before the Lightning took him with the 58th overall pick in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
No player from the 2011 draft has more goals, assists, or points than Kucherov.