Trophy Tracker: MacKinnon top choice for Hart as NHL most valuable player

To mark the three-quarter point of the 2023-24 regular season, NHL.com is running its third installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy, awarded annually to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.

Nathan MacKinnon is doing things this season that even Nathan MacKinnon hasn't done before.

That's no small feat.

MacKinnon, the Colorado Avalanche center, is NHL.com's favorite at the three-quarter point of the season for the Hart Trophy given to the League's most valuable player, just as he was at the midpoint of the season.

"Every single piece of his game he has elevated," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said.

MacKinnon leads the NHL with 116 points (42 goals, 74 assists) in 68 games. He has already set NHL career highs for assists and points, and he will do the same for goals with his next one.

He had a personal NHL-high 19-game point streak from Nov. 20-Dec. 27, when he had 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) and the Avalanche went 10-6-3.

MacKinnon did not have a point in a 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 29, but he started a 14-game point streak two nights later with two assists in a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks. He had 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) from Dec. 31-Feb. 5, including five game-winning goals, two in overtime. The Avalanche went 10-3-1.

MacKinnon went without a point in the next three games. Colorado lost them all in regulation, but he had two assists in a 6-3 win at the Washington Capitals on Feb. 13, starting what is an active 15-game point streak (10 goals, 21 assists), including two game-winning goals and a 11-3-1 record for the Avalanche, who have won six games in a row.

"Terrifying," Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said.

MacKinnon was the NHL's First Star of the Month in December and January, the first Avalanche player to win the award in consecutive months. He already has the fourth-most points by an Avalanche player in a single season and most in one season since Joe Sakic had 118 in 2000-01.

Sakic's 120 points in 1995-96 is the franchise record since the Avalanche relocated to Denver from Quebec to start that season. MacKinnon should shatter that.

Peter Stastny's 139 points for the Quebec Nordiques in 1981-82 is the most by a player in Quebec/Colorado history. MacKinnon will break that record if he continues at his current 1.72 points per game pace.

MacKinnon also has a 32-game home point streak, tied for the third longest in NHL history with Guy Lafleur (1978-79) and behind Wayne Gretzky's 40-game streak in 1988-89 and his 33-game streak in 1985-86.

"If you just want points, you're not really going to get them," MacKinnon said. "You have to earn them and do things the right way to be successful. Obviously, I want to win the scoring title, but I don't know if I will."

He never has won the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading scorer, but then again MacKinnon is doing things this season even MacKinnon hasn't done before.

Art Ross. Hart. More. It's all right there for him.

"He's just been on a tear, making it look easy," Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby said, "but it's not."

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Nathan MacKinnon, F, Colorado Avalanche, 65 points (9 first-place votes); Nikita Kucherov, F, Tampa Bay Lightning, 49 points (4 first place votes); Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers, 35 points (1 first place vote); Auston Matthews, F, Toronto Maple Leafs, 31 points; David Pastrnak, F, Boston Bruins, 16 points, Artemi Panarin, F, New York Rangers, 7 points Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets, 3 points; Sam Reinhart, F, Florida Panthers, 3 points; J.T. Miller, F, Vancouver Canucks, 1 point