1. Nathan MacKinnon (C)
A list of players to be excited about would not be complete if it didn’t include Nathan MacKinnon, the crowl jewel of the Colorado Avalanche offensive attack. MacKinnon is right up there with the best of the best, as close to the perfect player as humanly possible.
MacKinnon went on a huge point streak at home last season, which unfortunately came to an end at 35 games, five short of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 40 games. To be fair, I don’t think that putting all of the pressure on MacKinnon was the way to go sometimes this past season. It felt as if the weight was just a bit too much for him at one point.
The Avalanche went on a pretty long road trip out east, which I am sure was very draining.
MacKinnon is surely going to win the Hart trophy, but had some solid competition throughout the year. He should have won it last season with his 111 points but surely will win it this year as he scored 140 points.
As far as I’m concerned, MacKinnon will be a contender for the Hart trophy in many years to come. I don’t think that he will get snubbed this time around. The battle between him, Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov is one to keep an eye on in the future.