The Case for Mikko Rantanen As Avalanche MVP

Rantanen's play this season is the biggest reason for the Avs sitting atop the standings

Two days after Nathan MacKinnon was the talk of the Avalanche with his 100th point of the season coming in overtime to deliver a 4-3 win in San Jose, it was time for Mikko Rantanen to shine in the South Bay.

Twenty years to the day after Milan Hejduk scored his 50th goal of the season — the last Avs player to do so — it was the ‘Mikko Show’ against the Sharks as the Finnish forward notched his 50th, 51st and 52nd goals, respectively, thanks to his third hat trick of the season.

So he’s hit 50 goals and is on the cusp of 100 points of his own with 98 and five games remaining. That’s pretty good.

Speaking of pretty good, how about this tweet last night from Teemu Selanne (ex-Avs great). Yes, that’s little Mikko with Teemu there. Awesome.

Since January, MacKinnon has been maybe the second-best player in the NHL. Amassing 70 points in 42 games since the calendar switched from 2022 to 2023, he trails only Connor McDavid (73) in that time span. The rise in Mack’s game since coming back from injury has also led to the Avs winning more games as the team’s 28 victories since the start of 2023 are second only to Boston (33).

But the case could be made that, despite all that, Rantanen has been Colorado’s MVP this season.