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Will MacKinnon take home Hart?

June 19, 2018, 5:27 PM ET [21 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I didn’t have a vote, but Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon would have been my choice for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player, which will be presented on Wednesday in Las Vegas during the NHL’s annual awards ceremony.

The other finalists are Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar and New Jersey’s Taylor Hall. The award was voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. (I’m not eligible because I’m a “contractor” for NHL.com).

MacKinnon, who was fifth in league scoring with 97 points (39 goals, 58 assists) in 74 games, is also a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award presented to the most outstanding player as chosen by members of the NHL Players Association. Hall and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid are the other finalists.

MacKinnon would be the third Avalanche player to win the Hart, joining (Joe Sakic, 2000-01 and Peter Forsberg, 2002-03). Sakic also won the Lindsay award in 2000-01.

The Avalanche’s Jared Bednar would likely be a runaway winner of the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in any other season after guiding the team to 95 points and playoff berth following the 48-point disaster of the previous year.

But Vegas’ Gerard Gallant is a lock to win. The first-year Golden Knights were first in the Pacific Division with 109 points, fifth best in the league. Boston’s Bruce Cassidy is the other finalist in voting by the NHL Broadcasters Association.

*****

Now that Ottawa has traded Mike Hoffman, removing the distraction his fiancée was causing over alleged cyberbullying of Erik Karlsson’s wife, you wonder what the Senators’ plans are for the star defenseman.

I guess the real question is: does he even want to stay in Ottawa?

The Avalanche, and every other NHL team, would have to be interested in Karlsson, 28, who has amassed 518 points (126 goals, 392 assists) in 627 regular-season games.

The two-time Norris Trophy winner has one year left on his contract and the Senators can offer him a long-term extension on July 1; general manager Pierre Dorion said in April that he would do just that, but would Karlsson be interested in re-signing in the wake of the Hoffman drama, and the fact the Senators are in rebuilding mode?

Ottawa Sun beat writer Bruce Garrioch reports that Karlsson has 10 teams on a no-trade list, and any team looking to acquire him would likely need to be certain about agreeing to an extension before sending at minimum a 2019 first-round pick and a defenseman in return.

As of now, the Senators have the No. 4 selection in Dallas when the NHL draft begins on Friday. They have the option of keeping it or transferring it to the Avalanche as part of the Matt Duchene trade. Colorado director of amateur scouting Alan Hepple said last week he expects they’ll use it and transfer their 2019 first-rounder to the Avalanche to complete the transaction.

The Senators don't have to make their decision until they are on the clock.

The Avalanche could offer to trade next year’s pick back to Ottawa, along with defenseman Tyson Barrie, for Karlsson. Don’t know if that would be enough.

Karlsson can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019, so the Senators don’t have to try to trade him any time soon.



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