Nathan MacKinnon has earned his 5th Hart Trophy bid and has been named a finalist along with fellow phenoms Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid.
This nomination should come as no surprise, as Nathan MacKinnon was excellent during the regular season with 53 goals (career-high) and 127 points.
More than just his stat line, MacKinnon has been the best player on the league’s best team this season, leading the Colorado Avalanche to the Presidents’ Trophy
and second round of the playoffs.
‘Nate Dogg’ achieved some milestones that should bolster his claim this season, with a great showing on a silver medal-winning Team Canada, passing Colorado legend and head of hockey ops, Joe Sakic, both in career goals and career points in Avalanche franchise history (since relocation).
Add to that his scoring his 1,000th career point back in March.
I think we can check the achievements box.
What could give MacKinnon his best chance at actually winning this award comes in the form of his 5-on-5 success.
His 97 points at even strength means ~76% of MacKinnon’s points on the season came without the benefit of the man advantage.
The next closest player in this department was, in fact, Nikita Kucherov, who had 92 (~71%) points at even strength, followed by McDavid with 82 (~59%) points.
Both McDavid (138) and Kucherov (130) had more points on the season, but let’s be honest, any number beyond 120 is pretty much incredible these days.
Make no mistake, all three of these players deserve to be nominated, but the voters will decide who, in fact, walks home with the hardware.
Don’t ask MacKinnon about it; he’s focused on the Cup.
Let us know what you think of MacKinnon’s chances in the comments!
