DENVER - The 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season concluded with Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s goal-scoring leader.
MacKinnon finished with 53 goals (53g/74a) in 80 games to earn the award for the first time in his career. He finished two goals ahead of Montreal’s Cole Caufield and joins Milan Hejduk (50g/48a in 2002-03) as the only players in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise to take home the award. The 6-foot, 200-pound center held sole possession of the NHL-lead since Dec. 2 and never went more than five games without lightning the lamp. He scored in 39 of his 80 showings and registered a multi-goal game 14 times.
Since the award's inception in 1998-99, there have been only six instances of the winner being in his 30s (age at end of season). Four of the previous occurrences were from Alex Ovechkin – coming in 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 (tied) – and one from Pavel Bure in 2000-01.
MacKinnon’s 53 goals are a career-high, topping his previous best of 51 from 2023-24 when he was the Hart Trophy winner. MacKinnon was the first NHLer to score 50 goals this season, which came occurred on April 1, and the only other instance of an Avalanche/Nordiques player being the “First to 50” was Hejduk in 2002-03. The Avalanche’s alternate captain was also the first to 10 (tied), 20 (tied), 30 and 40-goal marks.
The centerman’s longest goal streak this season was four games, done on two separate occasions. MacKinnon also finished tops among 2025-26 NHL performers in multi-goal games (14), even-strength goals (42) and goals per game (0.66).
The 53 times MacKinnon lit the lamp are tied for the sixth-most in Avalanche/Nordiques history and are the third-most since the franchise relocated to Denver ahead of 1995-96.
