The minute Nathan MacKinnon let go of the Hart Trophy dream, he won it

Matt Larkin
Matt Larkin(MLarkinHockey)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon
Credit: Jun 27, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nathan MacKinnon was awarded the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award during the 2024 NHL Awards at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS – Nathan MacKinnon stopped worrying about it. Then it happened.

The Colorado Avalanche superstar is a famously combustible individual, known for his ferocity in workouts, his devotion to his diet and his singular focus on anything that helps him be one of the most dominant hockey players of his generation. That burning desire to be the best at everything doesn’t quite jive with things you can’t control, however, including the Hart Trophy as league MVP, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

A few years back, after he’d be a finalist for the Hart three times in a four-year stretch without winning, MacKinnon learned to let go and stop fretting over outcomes he couldn’t affect. He focused instead on what he could affect: winning the Stanley Cup, which he did with the Avs in 2021-22. The rest, he figured, would sort itself out if he kept working hard. Then came the full-circle moment Thursday at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Just when he’d stopped holding his breath about becoming the MVP, he took home two coveted pieces of hardware. He is your 2023-24 Hart winner and the 2023-24 Ted Lindsay Award winner, which goes to the most outstanding player as voted by the players.

“Like I said before, I can’t control it and I’m sure it was really close,” MacKinnon said Thursday. “It could have went to [Nikita Kucherov], [Connor McDavid], [Auston Matthews], a lot of guys. So I’m definitely very fortunate that you guys all voted for me. I appreciate it. But it’s definitely part of it, just kind of letting go of all that stuff.”

To a point. When you’re as intense as MacKinnon, your version of letting go probably doesn’t mean forgetting completely. As he implied Thursday night, he’s been hyper aware of his chances every time he’s been up for the Hart. So even if he was trying not to care, he understood that this season represented one of his best opportunities.

“I thought I had a chance in 2018 and then I thought I had a chance tonight,” he said.  “The other years, I think Connor had like 50 more points than me or something. So it wasn’t that close. I thought I had a chance [this year] and then, I mean, Kuch and Connor had unbelievable seasons, 100 assists each and everything. So I really didn’t know.”

He’s right in that the competition was fierce, with fellow finalists Kucherov and McDavid joining Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only members of the 100-assist club. Kucherov, the NHL’s scoring champion with 144 points and a previous Hart winner in 2018-19, was the primary threat, taking home 50 first-place votes for the MVP. But it wasn’t a tight race in the end. MacKinnon bagged 137 first-place nods.

He exploded for an incredible 140 points in 82 games along with 51 goals. He led the NHL with 406 shots on goal. He finished second in points and 5-on-5 points per 60. The Avs had a plus-35 goal differential and plus-275 scoring chance differential when he was on the ice. He was a force of nature, and now he’s crossed two more honors off his hockey bucket list. Considering it already included a Stanley Cup, Calder Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy, it’s pretty obvious MacKinnon will punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame someday,

And it’s all because, despite the fact that he’s the NHL’s fire-breathing dragon on skates, the toughest player in the league to stop with a full head of steam and the puck on his stick, he learned to find a certain degree of inner peace and acceptance.

“I always like playing with guys who are fiery. You have to try to tame them a little bit and try to get guys going. I think I’m definitely taming myself every day – trying to tame myself,” he said. “And I just get so invested in it and I just, I love the day-to-day grind of the NHL.

“And I think that’s why I’m sitting here right now.”

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