MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Russian forward of the US-based National Hockey League (NHL) club Tampa Bay Lighting Nikita Kucherov had a successful surgery on his hip in the United States, Joe Smith, a correspondent with The Athletic web portal, announced on his Twitter account on Thursday.

"Nikita Kucherov underwent surgery on his right hip Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York by Dr. Bryan Kelly," Joe Smith, who is the Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer for The Athletic Team, stated.

"Team says ‘initial indications are that the procedure will resolve his hip issue," he continued. "Rehab and recovery expected to last through regular season."

Last NHL season Kucherov led Tampa Bay Lighting hockey club to win the 2020 Stanley Cup and he was named as the best forward of the playoff series having booked 34 points (seven goals and 27 assists) in the 25-game postseason run to the Stanley Cup in 2020.

Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois announced last week that Kucherov would skip the NHL upcoming regular season due to the surgery saying: "Superstar forward Nikita Kucherov has a hip injury that will require surgery and force him to miss the 2021 regular season."

"No one loves playing hockey more than Nikita Kucherov. I know how much it pains him that he will be missing the regular season." BriseBois added.

Russia’s 27-year-old Kucherov joined NHL’s Tampa Bay Lighting in 2011 and since then he booked up a personal record of 547 points (221 goals and 326 assists) in 515 regular season appearances.

He also appeared in 90 NHL playoff matches recording 95 points (36 goals and 59 assists). Following the 2018/2019 NHL season, Kucherov was bestowed the Ted Lindsay Award (as the best player voted by NHL players) and Hart Memorial Trophy (as the most valuable player of his team).

Playing for the Russian national ice hockey team, Kucherov won two bronze medals of the IIHF (the International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championships, namely in 2017 in Germany/France and in 2019 in Slovakia.