Nathan MacKinnon loves trophies. Can’t help himself. Even when the Colorado Avalanche fall short of their ultimate goal, he still finds his way into the picture.
This summer, with the Stanley Cup back in Nova Scotia thanks to Brad Marchand, guess who popped up during the celebration? That’s right — MacKinnon. Alongside fellow Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby. Around the Cup. Again.
The Avs didn’t win it. That didn’t stop him.
It’s part fan, part friend, and part fierce competitor. Because if MacKinnon can’t win it, he still wants to be near it — a hockey soul drawn to NHL hardware like it’s gravitational.
And now, heading into his age-30 season, that pull might be fueling something new.
Nathan MacKinnon Predicted to Win Art Ross Trophy in 2025-26
In a Bleacher Report column making early predictions for 2025-26, Adam Gretz suggested that MacKinnon is finally poised to grab a trophy that has eluded him: the Art Ross. The league’s scoring crown. He’s come close, placing among the top five scorers five separate times, and MacKinnon was the runner-up in each of the past two seasons.
However, Gretz’s bold call is that this is the year he finishes on top. It would be yet another addition to the trophy case for this future Hall-of-Famer.
MacKinnon has long been among the NHL’s elite players, and he wasted no time beginning his collection of awards, earning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2013-14. After the 2019-20 season, MacKinnon was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, in recognition for sportsmanship and gentlemanly play alongside his excellence on the ice. Then following his 2023-24 campaign, MacKinnon earned the Hart Trophy as league MVP, and he also took home the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player, as voted on by the players.
But the Art Ross? That has remained just out of reach — for now. Perhaps not for long.
In a league increasingly driven by pace, puck control, and explosive transition, MacKinnon has been the prototype. He doesn’t just lead rushes. He detonates them. And if this season’s Avalanche group stays healthy and lets him run with a full tank, the team’s most trophy-obsessed forward might have to make room for another honor.
This time, he won’t have to crash anyone else’s party to hold it. And if MacKinnon does win the Art Ross? It’ll only underscore what’s already one of the best contracts in hockey — and possibly the best value among superstar centers.
Nathan MacKinnon’s Continued Excellence Makes Him ‘Massively Underpaid’
When MacKinnon signed the eight-year, $100.8 million contract extension with the Avalanche in September 2022, he became the highest-paid player in the NHL with an average annual value (AAV) of $12.6 million. Just three years later, that number has already started to look like a bargain.
As Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic recently noted in an article analyzing “NHL’s Best Contracts,” MacKinnon is one of the top players in the league, but the improved economics and pending increase in the salary cap has turned that contract into “one of the best deals in the sport.”
“MacKinnon is one of the best players alive, and for the next six years, he won’t be paid like it — not to the degree he should anyway,” Luszczyszyn wrote. “As was the case during his first contract, MacKinnon is once again massively underpaid.”
Avalanche Superstar Finally Poised to Snag Elusive Hardware