LAS VEGAS – Shortly after the NHL Awards, Nathan MacKinnon’s phone rang with congratulatory calls from Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky: legendary players in whose company MacKinnon now finds himself as a Hart Trophy winner.
“Every player I idolized as a kid has their name on these things. To be a part of this society is surreal,” MacKinnon said, looking at miniature replicas of the Hart and Ted Lindsay Award. “I know it’s an individual award, but you feel connected to these all-time greats.”
The win motivates MacKinnon far more than the Hart Trophy – he stressed that the Stanley Cup is more beautiful than any individual achievement – but the award is an undeniable achievement in a career that will go down in history as one of the best of this generation.
For MacKinnon, the rise to this point has not been straightforward. After being selected No. 1 overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, he had a strong rookie season on the Avalanche’s playoff team, scoring 63 points and winning the Calder Trophy. Then his career transition became more difficult. His numbers dropped, and in the 2016-17 season, the Avalanche had their worst record in the salary cap era. That season, he had the second-lowest points per game rate of his career and the worst plus-minus record.
MacKinnon did not perform as well as he could have been. He was, as he himself said, “sick of being average.”
So, as has been well documented, the center made changes to his off-ice routines. He improved his diet and paid for the move of performance rehabilitation specialist Marcin Goszczynski to Denver midway through the 2019-20 season. Goszczynski, who also works with other Avalanche players, warms up with MacKinnon before games and treats him afterward as well. MacKinnon described hockey as “a 24-hour thing for me.”
If there is an opportunity to gain an advantage, he takes it.
“Maybe Nate is tired of the story, but he’s just a true professional,” said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. “He wasn’t necessarily like that when he came into the league. He was young. We were all young.”
“He really flipped the switch,” added Cole Murphy, MacKinnon’s close friend from his childhood in the Halifax, Nova Scotia, area. “I think it’s been a gradual improvement since then. I think he was so focused and so determined to succeed and knew that if he wanted to be the best, he had to make some changes in all aspects of his training.”
The Hart Trophy had not been awarded to MacKinnon until Thursday. He has two runner-up finishes: in his breakthrough 2017-18 season, when Taylor Hall won, and in 2019-20, when Leon Draisaitl won. Landeskog, who thought MacKinnon deserved the award both years, said he will consider this year’s Hart MacKinnon’s third MVP. Colorado’s franchise cornerstone has two other top-five finishes, but he didn’t view any of them as close losses. Connor McDavid was well ahead of him both times.
MacKinnon has placed less importance on winning the Hart Trophy over the course of his career. That, he believes, “probably has a lot to do with winning it: letting go of things and results and various accolades that I can’t control.”
Both the 2018 and 2020 votes were close. This year, it was not: MacKinnon received 137 of the first-place votes, while runner-up Nikita Kucherov received 50. He accepted the award alongside his girlfriend Charlotte Walker, his parents Graham and Kathy, his older sister Sarah, his brother-in-law and Murphy at the awards ceremony, which took place at the Fontainebleau Hotel. Teammate Cale Makar was also in attendance as a finalist for the Norris Trophy.
The Hart field was packed this year. Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy with a league-leading 144 points, and newly crowned Conn Smythe winner Connor McDavid, the third-place finisher, had 100 assists for the Oilers. Auston Matthews, who scored 69 goals, didn’t even make the final.
“It’s just so hard to win,” MacKinnon said. “It’s just cool to be in the same company as these guys.”
Legendary season from the MVP. Congratulations, Nate. #GehtAvsGo pic.twitter.com/CY4jiAfng7
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) 27 June 2024
MacKinnon didn’t get off to a great start this season, scoring just nine points in his first 10 games. From there, he was a force, finishing the season with 140 points and a career-high 51 goals. MacKinnon led the league in points at even strength (92). His underlying numbers were top-notch as well. According to Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, he had the best net rating in the league.
“Incredible numbers,” Landeskog said. “But that’s not even the point. When you look closely at the game, the way he drives our team offensively and the way he engages defensively, I just don’t know if there’s anyone with a bigger impact on either side of the ice than him.”
MacKinnon ran a 35-game home point streak from opening night through the end of March, the second-longest such streak in history after Gretzky. The center said he did “the strangest things” during that streak. He refused to clean his car inside or out for fear of bringing bad luck on himself. Part of him was glad when the streak broke against the Rangers. He could start over.
The Avalanche star also recorded two 19-game point streaks and two four-goal games during the season.
MacKinnon was occasionally asked about Hart’s racing during the season, but ignored them. He once joked with reporters that he shouldn’t get his hopes up after Colorado fans chanted “MVP” to him. Murphy, meanwhile, watched the race closely as his buddy got more and more heated.
“I didn’t really want to talk to him about it, just because it might bring bad luck,” Murphy said. “I’m also pretty superstitious.”
In addition to the Hart Award, MacKinnon also won the Ted Lindsay Award, which is given to the “most outstanding player as voted on by the other members of the NHLPA.” Landeskog said his teammate “doesn’t necessarily care whether he wins the Hart Award or not,” but the two have discussed the Lindsay Award.
“Seeing his name up there is obviously a recognition from his colleagues,” Landeskog said. “I think it means a lot to him.”
Immediately after taking the microphone to accept the Lindsay, MacKinnon paid tribute to Andrew Cogliano, who retired this offseason after a 17-year career that ended in Colorado. Joe Sakic is the only other Avalanche player to win the award, formerly called the Lester B. Pearson Award. Sakic and members of the Avalanche front office were on hand Thursday to watch MacKinnon’s award presentation.
MacKinnon has always believed the Stanley Cup means more to him than the Hart Trophy. Those closest to him believe so. “It’s definitely not a joke,” Landeskog said. But the Hart and Lindsay Trophy add another trophy to the 28-year-old’s already Hall-of-Fame worthy resume. He has now been on three All-Star teams as a center, won a Calder Trophy, Lady Byng and – most importantly – a Stanley Cup. Outside of the NHL, he has won a Memorial Cup and a World Championship gold medal with Canada.
“The thing about Nate is that he’s always trying to improve, no matter what he’s accomplished or what happened the year before,” Landeskog said. “He just keeps impressing everyone. It’s impressive how he keeps getting better.”
The captain believes his motivation comes from internal factors. He wants to maximize his abilities and contribute to victory. “I think he would trade the Calder, the Byng, the Hart for one or two more trophies,” Landeskog said.
But there was no Stanley Cup to be won on Thursday. Instead, MacKinnon had to settle for the league’s most important individual award.
“After 11 years in the league, it’s cool to win it,” MacKinnon said. “I didn’t know if it was going to happen.”
“He’s finally reached his peak,” Murphy added. And he continued, “I think there’s more to come.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
