Aarif Deen
Colorado Avalanche superstar center Nathan MacKinnon will not be awarded the Hart Trophy in 2026-27.
MacKinnon finished third behind Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid. Kucherov is taking home his second Hart Trophy, following his 2018-19 run.
The Hart Trophy is awarded annually to r the most valuable player to his team in the regular season. MacKinnon won his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy this season, scoring a league-best 53 goals. But his 127 points were third behind the other two finalists.
Kucherov had 130 points in 76 games and McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy with 138 points.
It was a hard season to gauge from an M.V.P. standpoint for MacKinnon. On one hand, he was the best player on the most dominant regular-season team from start to finish. But on the other hand, his production dipped quite a bit from the top of the ranks after the Olympic break.
The 30-year-old had 17 points in his last 15 games of the season.
Along with having more points, Kucherov also had an exceptional second half of the season. He had 79 points in 41 games after January 1, while MacKinnon had 57 in that same stretch. Colorado’s star also had just 19 of his goals in the second half of the season.