Nathan MacKinnon Picked for the Most Prestigious NHL Award

As the playoffs keep rolling along, the Colorado Avalanche find themselves in a second round matchup against the Dallas Stars.

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The Avalanche won their last series against the Winnipeg Jets in dominant fashion, winning 4 games to 1.

However, as the Avs look to win another Stanley Cup, there’s been some great individual news for both the team’s superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, and fans alike.

Nathan MacKinnon Nominated for NHL MVP

Nathan MacKinnon has been listed as a finalist for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s most valuable player, after what is pretty clearly the best season of his career.

MacKinnon put up simply jaw-dropping numbers. He displayed an incredible sense around the goal, scoring 51 goals, a career high. At the same time, he just had his best season as a playmaker as well, tallying 89 assists. That is also a career high.

With these together, MacKinnon compiled 140 points, which broke Peter Šťastný’s franchise record of 139 points. 

Finally, he had the second longest home point streak at 35-games, only behind Wayne Gretzky’s 40-games. He also is the only place to ever have two 19-game point streaks in the same season.

The last Avalanche player to win the Hart Trophy was NHL great Peter Forsberg back in 2003. This is MacKinnon’s fourth nomination, and this will likely be his best chance to win it.

While MacKinnon easily had one of the best seasons in recent NHL history, he certainly is going up against some stiff competition this year.

How Does Nathan MacKinnon Stack Up Against the Other Finalists?

The other two players nominated have been players who have competed for the award with MacKinnon throughout his career: Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov.

McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers is NHL royalty at this point, having staked his claim as the league’s best player for years now.

After him and the Oilers got off to a slow start, they kicked it into gear. McDavid ended up with 32 goals and a staggering 100 assists, only the fourth player to do so in NHL history.

On the other hand, Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov is the fifth player to reach 100 assists in a season. He also added 44 goals to bring his points total to 144, which led the league.

While MacKinnon has some serious competitor’s this year, Vegas Insider actually gives him the best odds to win the award this season.

However, even though winning the award would give him a great boost to an already illustrious career, the one thing he and all Avs fans want is to win another Stanley Cup. 

Only time will tell if MacKinnon can end up winning both this season.