LAS VEGAS — Nathan MacKinnon’s memorable 2023-24 season will forever live in hockey lore.
After cleaning up both MVP awards on Thursday, MacKinnon became the 24th player in NHL history to receive both accolades in the same year. It’s happened in each of the last six seasons, which reaffirms that like superstars Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl, MacKinnon’s performance last season will forever be remembered for its dominance.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “I honestly never thought I’d win these, so very special.”
MacKinnon became the second Avs skater to ever win both awards, joining NHL great Joe Sakic. The only other Hart Trophy winner in team history is Peter Forsberg, who was the MVP and Art Ross Trophy winner in 2002-03.
“Every player I grew up idolizing has their name on these things,” MacKinnon said. “To be part of that company, it’s surreal. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s definitely a special thing.”
MacKinnon’s dominance was a sight to be seen. For his standard, the first 10 games of the season weren’t all that great. Despite scoring the season-opening goal for the Avalanche, Colorado’s top center only had nine points in 10 games. But then he took off.
He followed that up with 131 points in 72 games. Which, when compared to his previous career-high the year prior, was 20 more points in one extra game.
How did he do it?
He started the season with a whopping 35-game home point streak — and finished with points in 39 of 41 games at Ball Arena. MacKinnon also had not one, but two 19-game point streaks throughout the year, something that’s never been done in NHL history. Before 2023-24, no Avalanche player had ever scored four goals in a game. MacKinnon did it twice. And in a span of just 34 days.
But that wasn’t it.
MacKinnon blew past the franchise record for shots on goal in a season (405). The previous best was 366, set by MacKinnon the previous year. He also had a league-high 92 even-strength points.
Fellow superstar Cale Makar put up a career-high 90 points. Another star on the team, Mikko Rantanen, had his second straight 100-point season, finishing with 104. But both players didn’t quite play their best, at least for their standards. It felt, at times, like they were slumping. But MacKinnon’s strengths after the first 10 games dragged two other future Hall of Famers to incredible seasons. They elevated his game, but he soared their seasons to incredible heights.
The home point streak became an unforgettable part of the Avalanche’s season. Not only did he surpass every other NHL player not named Wayne Gretzky in the number of consecutive games, but he helped Colorado go 31-9-1 at home.
And like most hockey players, he did it by sticking with what was working.
“I was doing the weirdest things before games,” MacKinnon joked about his superstitions. “My car was dirty the whole year, we wouldn’t clean it. Inside and out. Just dumb things that I’d wear. Honestly when it was over I was kind of happy. Just try to reset and throw all these things that I was doing out. Cleaned my car finally, got the smell out.”