New Development:Nathan MacKinnon Deserves to Win First Hart Trophy
This season has been one of the most exciting to watch, with many prominent trophy races being hotly contested, including the Presidents’ Trophy coming down to the last week of the season and the Norris Trophy being a toss up. The we will be diving into today is the Hart Trophy — or MVP Trophy — and why the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon should win it.
The Hart Trophy is an annual award given “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” The winner is selected in a poll of the members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season. This will be Nathan MacKinnon’s fourth time being a finalist for the trophy, and while it won’t be an easy vote, here’s why he’s going to win either the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, or both as the NHL’s most valuable player for the first time in his career. He will achieve this feat even though he’s competing against one of the greatest fields of candidates the league has ever seen.
For MacKinnon, 2023-24 was a season to remember as he broke records across the board, not only when it comes to personal stats but franchise and NHL records too. In 82 games, he set career highs of 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points. His season production was fueled by the many-point streaks he accumulated throughout the season, as he put up at least one point in a league-leading 69 games. These streaks included the record-setting home-point streak that saw him score at least one point on home ice for 35 straight games, the second-longest home-point streak in history behind Wayne Gretzky’s 40 during the 1988-89 season. He became the first player to have two-point streaks of 19-plus games, whether on the road or at home in the same season
In the franchise section, MacKinnon set numerous Avalanche single-season records, including most points (140), Goals Created (51.1), Shots (405), Adjusted Assists (87), Adjusted Points (138), Adjusted Goals Created (51.6), Total Goals On-Ice For (187), Expected plus/minus (plus-25.1), Offensive Point Shares (13.1), and Point Shares (16.0). He also jumped up the ladder in numerous franchise career records, including third in assists and fourth in points. MacKinnon was a man on a mission offensively when it comes to advanced stats, as he led the entire team in Expected Goals (37.3), most penalty minutes drawn (66), Goals Above Expected (13.7), Points Per 60 Minutes (4.49), Medium Danger Expected Goals (14.91), Low Danger Expected Goals (11.8), and On-Ice Expected Goals % (64.7%). The team was playing their best when he was on the ice, and that shows from the records he broke and the statistics.