In this edition of the hotstove, we share our midseason picks for the Hart Trophy.
Todd Cordell
There are probably 10 names worthy of serious consideration right now. Plenty of players are having truly fantastic seasons, which means there’s no obvious choice completely separating themselves from the rest of the pack. I lean towards Nathan MacKinnon though.
MacKinnon sits 5th in points with 58 through 40 games and only Alex Ovechkin, perhaps the best volume shooter of all time, has more shots on target. He is having a ridiculous season by anyone’s standards.
It’s even more impressive when you add more context. MacKinnon’s regular running mates, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, have each missed 16 of 40 games (40%). Cale Makar, Erik Johnson, Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky have also sat out at least a few games.
That hasn’t stopped MacKinnon from piling up points, nor the Avalanche winning games. Only five teams have more points and they can thank MacKinnon for that – no Avalanche player has come remotely close to matching his impact.
MacKinnon (58) is doubling the next closest point producer (Makar, 29). He is 95 shots, and 52 scoring chances, clear of Kadri. What he is doing is insane.
No. 29 came close to winning the Hart a couple of years ago. If he keeps this up, he just might do it this time around.
Michael Stuart There are plenty of good options available, including perennial candidate Connor McDavid, but I'm going to go with Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.
The Avalanche sit in second place in the Western Conference, largely thanks to MacKinnon's absurd offensive totals. He has tallied 58 points in 40 games this year, which is exactly *double* the number of points scored by the next closest member of the Avalanche this season. Without him, there's no way that Colorado would be where they are in the standings.
It's true that his team has received solid goaltending to this point in the season, but MacKinnon's production is too impressive for me to ignore. The totals are amazing on a standalone basis, but even more so when considered relative to his teammates. He carried that group through the Mikko Rantanen injury, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
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