The top Colorado Avalanche stars continue to get snubbed in NHL awards voting. First, it was coach Jared Bednar getting passed over for the Jack Adams. Then, Cale Makar finished runner-up for the Norris Trophy.
On Thursday, it was Nathan MacKinnon’s turn to get the cold shoulder from NHL awards voters. The Avalanche superstar finished third in Hart Trophy voting. To be fair, it was a close vote. The winner, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, edged Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid by 10 total points. The 1,436 to 1,426 razor-thin margin leaves plenty of room for debate as to who should have won.
That debate should extend to MacKinnon, who notched 1,297 points. The 136-point margin between the Colorado center and the Lightning’s leading scorer leaves ample room for discussion.
Nikita Kucherov claimed his second Hart Memorial Trophy seven years after his first, winning an epic vote which marked the first time under the current system that all three finalists received at least 25% of first-place votes. #NHLAwards#NHLStats: https://t.co/0YCULyeawU pic.twitter.com/sz22i4QZqP
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) June 11, 2026
Perhaps what voters saw in picking Kucherov over MacKinnon was the depth on Colorado’s roster. The Avalanche are the deepest team in the NHL, while the Lightning weren’t really earmarked for success this season. The Lightning’s aging core and top-heavy lineup ended up surpassing most expectations.
Hence, that situation could be the most plausible explanation as to why Jon Cooper won the Jack Adams, Andrei Vasilevskiy the Vezina, and now Kucherov the Hart.
While we’re not taking anything away from the winners, it does seem lopsided to see the Lightning capture several individual awards, particularly when they were a massive first-round flop in the playoffs.
Of course, the playoffs don’t count towards awards voting. But in hindsight, the playoffs make these awards announcements even more questionable.
The Avalanche, unfortunately, cannot claim that a Stanley Cup trumps all of these individual awards. The sad reality that saw Colorado fail to get past the Western Conference Final makes all of these curious NHL Awards choices harder to swallow.
But then again, the Avalanche should be Stanley Cup contenders next season. As for the Lightning, who knows? They remain a wild card given how their roster is constructed. The clock could be ticking on them, as they are due for some backwardation next season.
