Nathan MacKinnon a Hart Trophy finalist for fifth time in his career

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon is a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

Again.

The top-3 for NHL MVP were announced on Friday morning and MacKinnon is on the list along with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

It’s the fifth time in his dazzling career that MacKinnon has been up for the Hart, including when he won it for his efforts during the 2023-24 season.

The Hart Memorial Trophy finalists have arrived! 🏆 #NHLAwards

The trophy is awarded annually to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team. pic.twitter.com/PJzE4cL55G

— NHL (@NHL) May 8, 2026

Nathan MacKinnon also finished second following both the 2017-18 season and 2019-2020 season. He came in third in 2020-21 before finally breaking through and winning it a few years later.

MacKinnon was brilliant again this year, pacing the Avalanche with 127 points. He scored 53 goals, tops in the NHL, to earn the Rocket Richard Trophy. He also dished out 74 assists which was the third most of his future Hall of Fame career.

Only McDavid (138) and Kucherov (130) finished with more points than Nathan MacKinnon. And although this is a regular season award, both the Oilers and Lightning lost in the first-round of the playoffs while MacKinnon’s Avalanche are a perfect 6-0 in the postseason thus far.

MacKinnon had momentum to win MVP a lot of the year before being caught late by McDavid and Kucherov in some voter polls. The Hart Trophy will be announced next month at NHL Honors along with the rest of the awards.

And after he was snubbed for the Ted Lindsay Award, the MVP as voted on by the players, this has to feel good for MacKinnon.

But as has been said all along, these guys care most about hoisting the Stanley Cup. With the way he’s playing right now, Nathan Mackinnon might help the Avs do that and earn the Conn Smythe Trophy for good measure.

It certainly feels like more hardware is in his future — well-deserved accolades for arguably the best hockey player on the planet.

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