MacKinnon finished fifth in the League with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists) in 69 games, and third in even-strength points (62). The 24-year-old Colorado Avalanche center had 29 multipoint games, and at least one point in 53 games. He helped the Avalanche to the second-best record in the Western Conference (42-20-8, .657 points percentage) and the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a seven-game loss to the Dallas Stars. He scored 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 15 postseason games.
"This award is a one-year thing but I think a body of work is a little bit required to get the respect of your peers and [Panarin and Draisaitl] have been so dominant for so long," MacKinnon said. "Obviously it's a tough League and the way these guys produce every year and every night is very special. For either one of these guys to win the award would be very deserving."
MacKinnon would be the second player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to win the award. Center Joe Sakic won in 2000-01.
"If I'm voting, I'm voting [MacKinnon] for the Ted Lindsay and for the Hart (Trophy)," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I think he'll get a lot of votes for that and hopefully he's able to win both those awards. … his pace of scoring didn't change no matter who we played him with. I mean, we played him with everyone from (Matt) Calvert to (Matt) Nieto to (Gabriel Landeskog) to Mikko (Rantanen) and almost everyone in-between, and he finds a way to produce and help us win hockey games."
Panarin, who signed a seven-year contract with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2019, tied Pastrnak for third in the League with 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists) in 69 games. The forward ranked first in the League in even-strength points (71) and first among forwards in plus/minus (plus-36). He had at least one point in 54 games, including 28 multipoint games.
Panarin helped the Rangers go 37-28-5 (.564 points percentage) in the regular season. He had one goal and one assist in New York's three-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Qualifiers. He would be the fourth Rangers player to win the award and first since forward Jaromir Jagr in 2005-06.
"I'm obviously very happy to be here and I'm very happy that guys voted for me to be here," Panarin said. "I always play or try to play 100 percent and often can't play better than I'm trying to play. … When I came (to New York), I felt a little bit of pressure … The decision to read less press and look at less social media allowed me to focus on my craft."
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov won the award last season.
The 2020 NHL Awards had been scheduled for June 18 in Las Vegas but were postponed March 25.
NHL.com independent correspondents Derek Van Diest and Rick Sadowski contributed to this report