Which Avs Can Win NHL Awards?

Hint: It's all the players you think.

It’s late summer. Nothing is happening. Baseball has hit that period where it’s being played, but people forget about it. Preseason football and all the roster speculation are in full swing and we’re about to get real college football back in a week. That means a ton of Deion Sanders coverage nationwide, Buffs fans.

But, for me (and I assume most of you reading), we’re just waiting for hockey and the return of the Colorado Avalanche.

What’s happening with the Avs? Ummmm, not much…?

Gabe Landeskog is coming back, that much we know. But when and at what level? Few people know and even they are speculating. 

So I decided to speculate on my own. Here, I wanted to look at what Avs players have the best shot at winning an NHL award this season and why they should or could be considered for an end-of-year accolade. 

Some of these will be obvious… very obvious.

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)
Nathan MacKinnon
Obviously the guy who won it just a few months back after an incredible season has a shot at winning it again (unless you’re Taylor Hall and you didn’t deserve it in the first place). MacKinnon is coming off a 140-point campaign, the most in franchise history and the 27th-best single-season total in league history. It’s still wild to wrap your mind around the fact that Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg or Peter Statsny aren’t the franchise’s single-season scoring leader, but our current superstar center is the one to hold down the mark after his remarkable 2023-24. Can he match his total from a year ago or duplicate the same kind of success he had? Maybe. Most people don’t think so. But now that he’s won one Cup and is two years removed from that feeling atop the mountain, I think Nate Dogg is even more driven than he was a season ago. If Gabe Landeskog comes back and can contribute, and Nichushkin comes back and figures it all out, who knows where the point total for Mack could be. And big point totals usually mean hardware.

Cale Makar
A healthy Cale Makar is scary. Rarely do we get that, though. There always seems to be some nagging injury that causes Cale to miss a few games here and there. Ultimately, those missed games seem to count against him in the end-of-year voting, playing a role in his ability to move from second or third up to first. Outside of his rookie season, Makar has finished in the top-three in voting for the Norris in each of the last four campaigns. He has a second, a first in 2022, and a pair of third-place finishes in the most recent two seasons. In 2024, Makar posted a franchise-record 90 points by a blueliner and finished third in the voting behind Quinn Hughes and Roman Josi despite playing five fewer games than the duo. I think Makar could be poised to have an even bigger year if he can not only play in 82 games, but be healthy in those contests and not just battling through something while staying in the lineup. His chances at the Hart are hurt by having MacKinnon in the lineup to steal votes away from him, but if there’s any defenseman in the league who would win league MVP, it’s Makar.

Honorable Mention: Mikko Rantanen
This guy. Imagine being a top-15 player in the world and having no one outside of your sport know who you are. How about having most fan bases give you no credit because the guys mentioned above? Mikko can elevate his game to another level and is one of the best power forwards in the league, if not the best at this point. He has a 55-goal campaign and a pair of 100-point seasons in the wake of winning the Cup. And he has another gear. But no one in the ENTIRE NHL has more to overcome in terms of garnering votes than the Moose who would have to do something so special to steal from Mack and Makar.