As the unofficial halfway point of the NHL season approaches with the All-Star break next weekend, award races across the league are heating up as the stretch run looms. The Hart Trophy seems to be down to a two-man race at the moment, as Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon battle it out for the NHL's top individual award.
The pair has jockeyed for position atop the league's points leaderboard for much of the season and this week showed that Kucherov and MacKinnon are a tier above the rest this season.
After Kucherov recorded a hat trick during a four-point game on Tuesday, MacKinnon followed suit with four goals and a helper on Wednesday. Kucherov then notched three points on Thursday, overtaking MacKinnon for most points in the NHL.
Despite his numbers and exciting style of play, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos thinks Kucherov should be getting more love in the MVP conversation.
“We’re not the biggest market in the NHL and although we’ve had a ton of success, that’s just the way it is for whatever reason,” Stamkos said, per Diandra Loux. “We've talked about this year's team, maybe a little bit of a transition year but we're finding out way. For him to be doing what he's doing is even more impressive.”
Too close to call
As it stands now, voters for the Hart Trophy will have a very tough time deciding who to give league MVP to. Entering Friday's action, Kucherov and MacKinnon have virtually identical stat lines.
Kucherov has the slight edge with 83 points on 32 goals and 51 assists while MacKinnon is right behind him with 82 points on 30 goals and 52 assists. They've each played 48 games as well.
Kucherov has been slightly better with a man advantage, notching 11 goals and 37 points on the power play to MacKinnon's seven and 31. It's up to individual interpretation as to who that helps more in their MVP cases, but it's another statistic that will no doubt be considered.
Team success may also play a factor and although both the Lightning and Avalanche are in playoff position right now, that edge may go to MacKinnon. The Avalanche are 15 points clear of the non-playoff teams while the Lightning sit six points clear with plenty of teams behind them ready to make a run in the Eastern Conference.
Regardless of who you think is the favorite right now, there are bound to be plenty more fireworks from both Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon in the final three months of the season. Debates will rage on, but why don’t we just sit back and enjoy the talent these two NHL stars display seemingly every single night?
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