MacKinnon Had Hart Trophy-Worthy Season

There might be a little bias, but if Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar had a vote for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, he would pick his All-Star center.
"Nathan MacKinnon, No. 1," Bednar said when asked by one of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) members following Monday's practice. "I know what he's done for us and that's hard to do, very consistent all year long."
Regardless of Bednar's favoritism, it is clear that MacKinnon upped his game during the 2017-18 campaign and the numbers he produced proved it. He stamped his name in the echelon of top players in the NHL this season and put members of the PHWA--which votes for the award--on notice.

MacKinnon finished his fifth professional season with career highs in every scoring category, and he did it while playing in 74 games, missing eight outings with an upper-body injury in February.
He finished fifth in league scoring with 97 points, which was the most by an Avalanche player since hall-of-famer Joe Sakic reached 100 in 2006-07. His 39 goals were also among the NHL's best, tied for ninth overall, and it was the most markers by a Colorado skater since Milan Hejduk's Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy-winning, 50-goal campaign in 2002-03.
The forward averaged 1.31 points per game, trailing only Connor McDavid, who had 1.32 and a torrid stretch to close the regular season for his non-playoff-bound Edmonton Oilers.
"It's hard to express everything he's done for our team." Bednar said prior to the Avs' playoff-clinching victory last Saturday against the rival St. Louis Blues. "He's the driving force to our offense, everybody knows it. He's has been extremely consistent, him and his linemates. Really our whole team for that matter, they've been pretty good."
On home ice, the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native was nearly impossible to stop. With the visiting team not having the opportunity to ice a favorable matchup, MacKinnon unleashed an offensive output at Pepsi Center that hadn't been seen since Sakic commanded the game at the arena on Chopper Circle.
In 39 home contests, the 22-year-old recorded 67 points (27 goals and 40 assists)--the same production as Sakic had during his MVP and Stanley Cup-winning campaign in 2000-01 (an Avalanche record). It was the most points by an NHL player in his own barn since Evgeni Malkin had 67 in 2011-12 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

While his on-the-ice growth is clear, maybe the most noticeable part of MacKinnon's development is his demeanor throughout the highs and lows of an 82-game campaign. As most players do, he's still gets irritated following losses but no longer lets it linger.
"That comes with experience," he said of being even-keeled during his career season and the team's playoff push. "It's my fifth year now, so you learn a lot about yourself, the league. It is how it goes for most teams, dips and rises. I thought we did a good job. We had a 10-game winning streak, we had a good stretch. We lost a couple in the end there, but we managed to get one big one."
Maybe the most telling part about MacKinnon's campaign was how he raised his game to the occasion. He tied Sakic's Avalanche record and led the NHL with 12 game-winning goals and scored three overtime-winners, matching the franchise record.
The 22-year-old had 27 multi-point outings, 13 three-point contests and two five-point performances, but maybe no game was bigger than in the regular-season finale on Saturday against the Blues--with the winner of the matchup earning the Western Conference's final playoff spot. MacKinnon registered a goal and an assist, with his marker giving Colorado a two-goal cushion and serving as the eventual game-winner in the Avs' 5-2 victory.

It was the exclamation point to MacKinnon's candidacy for the Hart Trophy and, more importantly, returned the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since his Calder Trophy-winning rookie season in 2013-14.
"Making the playoffs is a big part of it. I don't really care at this point," MacKinnon said about the prospects of being named NHL MVP immediately following that contest. "To be in the conversation is flattering. To be up for an award with the best players in the world is obviously cool. I'm just happy to be in the playoffs and the joy of making it isn't thinking about the personal stuff, I've had a lot of help."
There is nothing else MacKinnon can do to better his resume for the Hart Memorial Trophy--the PHWA doesn't take playoff performance into consideration--not that the award was ever a priority for him. It was always helping the team make the playoffs--and now do some damage there.
The postseason is where players make a name for themselves, and MacKinnon did that as a rookie in 2014 when he had 10 points (two goals and eight assists) in seven games. It was the third-highest total by an 18-year-old in Stanley Cup Playoff history behind only Jaromir Jagr's 13 (1991) and Ed Olczyk's 11 (1985).
"I'm obviously a better player than four years ago when I was a rookie. I feel like my game has grown a lot," MacKinnon said on Tuesday. "I'm ready for whatever happens."
There is still work to be done as the team gets ready for a tough first-round matchup against the No. 1-seed Nashville Predators.
Given what MacKinnon and the Avalanche did during the regular season, they aim to make some noise versus the team from Music City.