MacKinnon, Hall looking to cap turnaround seasons with Hart Trophy
Nathan MacKinnon felt a little out of place at last season’s NHL Awards.
Coming off a miserable 30thplace finish for his Colorado Avalanche, he made a Sin City pit stop to see fellow Cole Harbour, N.S., native Sidney Crosby on the way to a California golf trip.
“I felt like a loser walking around,’’ MacKinnon joked Tuesday. “I had like four goals.’’
Four is a stretch — he actually scored 16 — but there won’t be any double takes this week.
MacKinnon is one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP along with Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils and Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings after tallying 39 goals and 58 assists for 97 points.
The 22-year-old finished fifth in league scoring despite missing eight games through injury, helping the Avalanche to a 47-point improvement in the standings as Colorado went from last in 2016-17 to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference this spring.
“I wanted to kind of re-establish myself as a top player,’’ said MacKinnon, the top pick in the 2013 draft. “Obviously a couple tough seasons for myself and the team that I wanted to bounce back from.’’
The seasons for MacKinnon, who won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2014, and Hall were near mirror images of one another as both players elevated their game and almost single-handedly dragged their clubs into the playoffs.
“There’s obviously a lot of similarities,’’ MacKinnon said. “We had some good help and a
lot of good players around us.’’
But there’s also no hiding from the numbers.
MacKinnon had a personal 44-point improvement over the 53 he scored the previous season, while Hall found the scoresheet 40 more times than he did in 2016-17.
Hall had 39 goals, 54 assists and 93 points for New Jersey — 41 more points than his next closest teammate for the widest margin on an NHL team since 2007-08.
“I’ve always had that game in me,’’ Hall said. “As a team we clicked, found some really solid linemates, and we went on a role.’’
The No. 1 pick in 2010, Hall took it personally when the Edmonton Oilers traded him to the Devils two summers ago, but he’s found a home in New Jersey and thoroughly enjoyed his first playoff experience.
The 26-year-old, who can become the first Devil to win the Hart in franchise history, had a 26-game point streak from Jan. 2 to March 6 (18 goals, 20 assists) to set a club record.