How the NHL Media MacAltitude Bias Cost Kucherov His Second MVP

The 2023-2024 NHL season will be remembered as one of the most thrilling in professional hockey history. Fueled by what many considered to be the most competitive MVP race in decades, the final result ended up being a landslide victory for Colorado Avalanche center, Nathan MacKinnon. Of the 194 writers who voted on the award, 137 placed MacKinnon first, with Nikita Kucherov receiving 50 first-place votes and Connor McDavid only 1.

All three MVP finalists had incredible seasons, putting up numbers reminiscent of the high-scoring 80’s, when offensive production in the NHL was at an all-time high. Throughout the year, all consistently had standout games, sometimes even scoring three or more points on the same night, as if trying to one-up the others. In fact, they were so dominant, that their point totals from the 2023-2024 regular season rank within the top 50 all-time - Kucherov #23, MacKinnon #27, Mcdavid #44.

Some argue that Kucherov’s bid for MVP was hurt most by the fact that he led the league in empty-net goals and still finished behind MacKinnon in total goals. This can easily be explained by MacKinnon’s greater ice time, which was the highest for any forward in the NHL and exceeded Kucherov's by over a minute per game. MacKinnon also lead the league in shots on goal, with almost 100 more than Kuch.

When comparing their goals-per-shot ratios, Kucherov emerges as the more efficient scorer, with a rate of 14.38% versus MacKinnon’s 12.59%. Additionally, known as one of the most precise passers in hockey, it’s no surprise that he excels at scoring empty-net goals from long distances.

Another likely contributor to the shortage of first-place votes is the difference in play styles. It’s much harder for the casual fan to appreciate Kucherov’s finesse, which often slows the game down and makes the extraordinary seem effortless. Compare this to MacKinnon’s contrasting style, which relies on explosive speed to cut through defences, and the difference in first-place votes starts to make more sense.

There was also the overblown narrative surrounding MacKinnon’s home-point streak. For most of the season, he would tally a point in every single home game and the media couldn’t stop raving about it - especially when it seemed he might do it for the entire season. Although it was undeniably impressive and exciting to watch, one has to ask: aside from hometown fans and gamblers, who really cared?

The hype around this streak was so overwhelming that Kucherov’s contribution to 50% of his team’s goals almost went unnoticed. Part of the blame here lies with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s media coverage, which didn’t seem particularly eager to highlight the significance of his achievement in this particular area.

When it comes to winning over the media, Kucherov didn’t do himself any favours with his lacklustre performance at the 2024 All-Star Skills competition. At the NHL Awards, even before the Hart Trophy winner was announced, the league seemed to get its revenge by having a low-level comedian do cringe-worthy jokes about him as a segue to the night’s most prestigious award. I won’t say this was done on purpose as a sort of payback for his lack of effort at All-Star weekend, but why on earth did they think this was a good idea right before announcing the league's MVP?

Circling back to the voters, the discrepancy in first place votes was shocking, given how tight the race was throughout the season. It was clear that MacKinnon would have an edge due to his hometown connection with Sidney Crosby, Canadian background, and Kucherov’s performance at the All-Star Skills competition. However, it was perplexing to see that 11 voters had Kucherov in 5th place, with 3 others leaving him off their ballots entirely!

Are we seriously going to argue that a player who contributes to half of his team’s goals - something only achieved by four others in NHL history - while also leading the league in scoring, isn’t one of the 4 most valuable players? What is the purpose of voting, if top performers like Kucherov can be left completely off the ballot? How these 14 writers reached their conclusions will remain a mystery, but all 14 should have their NHL voting privileges revoked, in my humble opinion.

Ultimately, the MVP voting process for the 2023-2024 NHL season reveals both the complexities and inconsistencies of the voting process for league awards. While MacKinnon’s standout season was undeniable, the significant oversight of Kucherov’s contributions underscores the need for a more nuanced evaluation of achievement in hockey. I’d like to end this article by reiterating how special this season was and thanking the players and the NHL for their dedication to making this sport so exciting to watch.