Nathan MacKinnon has the inside track on his second-straight Hart Trophy winner. Here are four other names to watch in the NHL's MVP race.

Connor McDavid will lead the Edmonton Oilers against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, Denver in back-to-back games after playing the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

Elliotte Friedman reports that money was one significant factor (perhaps the biggest) in the Colorado Avalanche’s decision to trade Mikko Rantanen.

Leon Draisaitl is having a Hart-Trophy calibre season this year, but fans and media outside of Edmonton are still sleeping on the Oilers superstar - with TSN not even naming him as an MVP candidate.

One of the best players in the game is continuing to impress and is on pace to take home some more hardware. Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon is once again scoring at a torrid pace.

It’s always a solid bet that the Edmonton Oilers are going to be well-represented at the NHL Awards in the summer. That’s not just because the team boasts the game’s top player in Connor McDavid, a perennial favourite to lead the league in scoring and be voted as the Most Valuable Player.

When Leon Draisaitl won his first Hart Trophy in 2019-20, he made his case during a stretch when teammate Connor McDavid was out with an injury. The Oilers had missed the playoffs in back-to-back years in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and found themselves back in the mix in 2019-20 after a hot start to the season.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl scored his 29th goal in the first five minute of a game in a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Draisaitl's elite production has led the Oilers to a top-five position in the NHL standings and he is firmly in the mix to take home his second Hart Trophy. Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Draisaitl has the third-best odds to win the award at +320. Only Nathan MacKinnon at +280 and his Oilers teammate Connor McDavid at +300 have shorter odds.

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After one of the biggest in-season acquisitions since the New Jersey Devils acquired Ilya Kovalchuk for a massive haul in the 2009-10 season, more information has begun trickling out regarding Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes.

Friday’s blockbuster between Colorado and Carolina served one serendipitous purpose for the NHL. And that was shifting the focus off a week of officiating scandalous even by league standards.