Nathan MacKinnon is a finalist for the Hart Trophy for the fifth time in career.
MacKinnon, the 2024 winner as the NHL’s most valuable player, led the NHL with 53 goals this season and finished third with 127 points this season. The Colorado Avalanche star finished with 97 points at even strength, which is the most by any player since Wayne Gretzky had 103 in 1990-91.
“For me, Nate, he’s somewhat of a unicorn when it comes to his abilities, the way he plays, the physicality and the skill level and pace he plays with,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “There aren’t too many guys who are putting up 100-plus points a year that go play as physical as Nate did last game. … We saw it in 2022. We’re seeing it again in this series. It’s personally why I think he should be in that running every year.
“It’s because there’s no one else like him, really, in the league that plays that way with that sort of speed, ability, skill and then physicality and sort of emotion and passion. Everyone does it differently, it’s not taking away anything from the other guys. Some of those other guys do things that Nate doesn’t do and they play a little more of a cerebral game. But that’s what I think makes Nate so special. He’s one of one.”
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov are the other finalists for the award, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. MacKinnon was also a finalist in 2018, 2020 and 2021 before breaking through in 2024.
MacKinnon’s even-strength dominance helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Presidents’ Trophy this season. The Avs, fueled by a historic 31-2-7 start, led the NHL standings every day from Nov. 1 through the end of the regular season. MacKinnon had 35 goals in those first 40 games, including 28 at even strength — more than any player had in all situations at that point in the campaign.
This year was a four-person race for the league’s two MVP awards. MacKinnon won both the Hart and the Ted Lindsay Award in 2024, but he is not a finalist for the latter this year. San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini is, along with McDavid and Kucherov. MacKinnon will likely finish fourth in the Lindsay voting, just as Celebrini will likely be fourth in the Hart.
MacKinnon, who surpassed 400 goals and 1,100 points in his career this season, has finished in the top three of the Hart voting more times than franchise legends Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy combined. He could become the first player in club history to win the Hart a second time. There are 19 players in NHL history who have won the Hart more than once.
After starting this postseason with just one point in the first three games against the Los Angeles Kings, MacKinnon has had back-to-back-to-back three-point efforts to close out the first round and help the Avs open a 2-0 series lead against the Minnesota Wild.
It’s also pushed him to the forefront of the Conn Smythe Trophy discussion. Avs coach Jared Bednar called his Game 2 performance against the Wild “off the charts.“
“He just wants to impact the game every time he steps on the ice,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “I think that’s what it comes down to. And knowing Nate, he doesn’t come home and count the points he had, or do any of that. That’s not what he bases his performance off of — it’s how he impacted the game on both sides of the puck. The offensive production is a byproduct of that. He prepares the right way, has the right mindset and goes out and wants to be an impact every time he steps on the ice.
“Do we get numb to it? No, there’s still a lot of plays where it kind of takes you back. But at the same time, he’s awesome, so you do come to expect it after a while. Just happy he’s on our side.”
FOOTNOTE: Bednar said he’s confident Josh Manson, who has missed the past three games with an injury, will return while the team is in Minnesota for Games 3 and 4. Jack Ahcan did not travel with the team as an insurance defenseman in part because the Avs believe Manson will be ready soon.
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