MacKinnon and Makar selected as finalists for Ted Lindsay Award

The award goes to the sport’s “Most Outstanding Player.”

Perhaps this is the motivation the Colorado Avalanche needs ahead of Game 6 tonight at Bell Arena.

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were named as two of the three finalists Wednesday for the Ted Lindsay Award. The honor, voted on by members of the NHL Players’ Association, is bestowed upon “the most outstanding player.”

This was the first time a pair of teammates had been named finalists since the award, previously known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, was renamed for Ted Lindsay in 2010.

The other finalist not from the Avalanche is Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov, who led the NHL with 121 points on the year.

MacKinnon is the defending recipient of the Ted Lindsay Award. Should he win again, he would become the first player to repeat since Connor McDavid won consecutive honors in 2017 and 2018. The last repeat winner before McDavid was Sidney Crosby, who won back-to-back awards from 2012-2013.

MacKinnon finished the regular season with 32 goals and 84 assists for 116 points, which was second-best in the league. His numbers dropped from last season, when MacKinnon played all 82 games and finished the season with 140 points. However, he missed the final three games of this season to rest in preparation for the playoffs, as he was also dealing with a minor injury.

While MacKinnon is a four-time finalist for the award, Makar was selected as a finalist for the first time. While the 26-year-old hasn’t been playing his best this postseason, his regular-season numbers were his best to date. Makar posted 30 goals and 62 assists for 92 points. Both were new Colorado franchise records for defensemen.

Earlier in the week Makar was also named one of the finalists for the Norris Trophy, which will likely be his for a second time in his career.

The Avalanche are facing elimination from the Western Conference First Round tomorrow evening. They trail their best-of-seven series 3-2 to the Dallas Stars, who eliminated them from the second round of the playoffs last season.