Remember when Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon was lamenting his lack of success after his first nine NHL seasons? It might seem like a million years ago, but it was only three. Since then, MacKinnon has won a Stanley Cup, posted his first 100-point NHL campaign, and is on pace this season to obliterate pretty much everything he’s done before.
One of the favorites to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, MacKinnon is in the midst of a wild 29-game point streak at home – meaning he’s tallied at least a point in every single home game this season. The NHL record is 31 games with a point at home by Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He won’t have a chance to extend that home point streak again until March 4, but MacKinnon still has plenty of milestones to keep your eyes on.
MacKinnon Closes in on 40-Goal History
With 35 goals through the team’s first 60 games, MacKinnon is a virtual lock to hit the 40-goal plateau this season. His 42-goal effort last season marked the second time he hit that mark in his career, as he also scored 41 in 2018-19. What makes the chase for 40 goals this year, is that MacKinnon is chasing a bit of history. No Avalanche player has ever scored 40 goals in back-to-back seasons.
While the franchise was the Quebec Nordiques, Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny accomplished this feat in the high-flying 1980s. However, no one in an Avalanche jersey has recorded back-to-back 40-goal seasons since the team came to Colorado in 1995. The closest any Avs player has come to it was when Joe Sakic notched 41 goals in 1998-99 and then 54 goals two seasons later. He scored 28 goals in the season between those two.
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He still needs five more goals, but with 22 games left, it almost seems like a foregone conclusion. The longest MacKinnon has gone this season without scoring a goal is only seven games, and that was a stretch in November when he racked up 10 assists. His career-high of 42 goals is also in jeopardy, but the franchise record for goals in a season is likely out of reach. Goulet holds that mark with 57 goals in 1982-83, and Mikko Rantanen scored the most by an Avalanche player with 55 last season.
Why This Is MacKinnon’s Finest Season
MacKinnon currently sits at 98 points through 60 games, and his career high in points came last season with 111. Even if he doesn’t eclipse that mark, this will still likely rank as his most impressive season yet – based simply on what his consistency has meant to the team. Along with the ridiculous point streak at home, MacKinnon has also had separate point streaks of 19 games and 14 games. Those are two of his three longest point streaks of his career.
He has been a must-watch player since he racked up a goal and two assists in the season opener against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 11. He’s been dangerous all season, and that explosiveness has rarely taken a night off. Of the 60 games Colorado has played in 2023-24, MacKinnon has failed to register a point in just 10 of those contests. The longest he’s gone without a point is only three games.
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That consistency has been critical to Colorado’s success – especially with the roster shakeups the Avs have been juggling all season. The Avalanche have faced a glut of injuries, had two players miss time in the NHL’s player assistance program, and are still trying to find consistency on the second line. Along with Rantanen, MacKinnon has kept Colorado’s top line one of the league’s deadliest throughout all of those struggles. He sets the tone for the Avs every night, delivering like a top-tier superstar should.
Why MacKinnon Can Win the Hart Trophy
The aforementioned consistency is a main selling point for MacKinnon’s case for the Hart Trophy, but it isn’t the only thing on his resume. He scores a lot of points, and he does it often. In his 60 games this season, he’s recorded a multi-point game in a staggering 31 of those contests. It’s not that he’s simply putting together point streaks, he’s doing it with multiple points almost every night.
There are obvious other contenders for this award – namely Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both of them are having ridiculous seasons in their own right. Kucherov leads the NHL in points at 103 (five ahead of MacKinnon), and Matthews is flirting with another 60-goal season. The last time Matthews accomplished that feat was in 2021-22, and it earned him the Hart Trophy that season. Also, the last time Kucherov put together a season like this was 2018-19, and he took home the Hart Trophy that season with 128 points.
Even though the season is coming down the stretch, there are still lots of games to be played – and things could shake out any number of ways. All three of those players are having fantastic seasons, and MacKinnon should be right in the thick of things. What sets him apart from the other two is his stark consistency every night on a team that’s had a lot of ups and downs. How much the voters consider that is unknown, but the Avalanche certainly wouldn’t trade the superstar for anybody in the NHL right now. Whether he wins the Hart Trophy or not, MacKinnon is going to finish with one of the all-time great seasons in Avalanche history.