LAS VEGAS — At one point during the 2023-24 season, Mikko Rantanen said Nathan MacKinnon deserved to be on the “Mount Rushmore” in Colorado Avalanche franchise history.
That was chiseled in granite Thursday night.
MacKinnon won the Ted Lindsay Award at the 2024 NHL Awards Show. He was named the NHL’s most valuable player for the first time in his career, joining franchise legends Joe Sakic (2001) and Peter Forsberg (2003) as players who have claimed league MVP honors. He is also up for the Hart Trophy — the league’s other MVP award voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The Lindsay award is selected by the NHL Players Association.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) races across the blue line against Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) moments before scoring during the first period at Ball Arena in Denver on Tuesday, April 09, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
A runner-up for the Hart Trophy twice before, MacKinnon finished this past season with a career-high 51 goals and a franchise-record 140 points. He led the NHL in shots on goal (405) and even-strength points (92).
MacKinnon had at least one point in 35 straight home games to start the season, the second-longest such streak in NHL history. He became the first player in league history to have multiple 19-game point streaks, regardless of venue, in one season.
This was arguably the best field of MVP candidates the NHL has seen to date. Nikita Kucherov led the league with 144 points. He and MacKinnon became the second and third players to reach 140 points since 1996, joining Connor McDavid from 2022-23.
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McDavid and Kucherov both reached 100 assists, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr as the only players in league history to reach that milestone. And all Auston Matthews did was score 69 goals, the most by anyone since 1996, while also finishing third in the Selke Trophy voting for the league’s top defensive forward. He wasn’t even a finalist for the Hart, likely finishing fourth with a resume that could have easily won in a lot of years.
MacKinnon now has a Calder Memorial Trophy, Lady Byng Trophy and Ted Lindsay on his resume, along with the Stanley Cup ring from 2022. He’s one of five active players to have won the Calder as top rookie and MVP, joining Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane.
There were numerous incredible performances along the way this season for MacKinnon. He had the first four-goal game since the franchise moved to Colorado, then added the second 34 days later. He had the first Avalanche natural hat trick since Sakic had one in 2003.
He also had several signature games or moments on the road in some of the NHL’s biggest markets, including a game-winning goal to help erase a three-goal lead in Toronto, a highlight-reel goal in New York, a four-point game in Philadelphia and a game-winning assist with one second left in Edmonton in arguably the best regular-season game of the NHL season.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) during introductions before playing the Carolina Hurricanes at Ball Arena October 21, 2023. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
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