For just the second time in franchise history, the Rocket Richard Trophy will call Colorado home.

Nathan MacKinnon is your 2025-26 Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the league leader in goals scored. MacKinnon, who did not dress in Thursday’s season finale against the Seattle Kraken, finished the year with 53 goals, a new career high for him. MacKinnon led the NHL in scoring for the majority of the year, but Montreal’s Cole Caufield put on a late-season push before falling short at 51 goals.

The Rocket Richard Trophy was first awarded after the 1998-99 season, with Teemu Selanne taking it home that year. Milan Hejduk is the only other Avalanche player to win the award, securing it after scoring 50 goals during the 2002-03 season.

MacKinnon’s 53 goals are good for the third-best goal-scoring season since the Avalanche moved to Colorado. Joe Sakic scored 54 during the 2000-01 campaign and Mikko Rantanen holds the single-season record with the 55 he scored in 2022-23. MacKinnon did not dress in Colorado’s regular-season finale against the Seattle Kraken, so now the 30-year-old forward will turn his attention toward the postseason and the quest for another Stanley Cup.

MacKinnon has also given himself a good opportunity to walk away with another Hart Trophy at the end of the season, as he will finish third in the NHL with 127 points and first in the league with 97 even-strength points. Those 97 even-strength points are the most by any NHL player since Wayne Gretzky scored 103 during the 1990-91 season. This is the fourth consecutive season in which MacKinnon has surpassed 100 points.

In addition to MacKinnon taking home the Rocket Richard, Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood will take home the William Jennings Trophy, awarded to the team that allows the fewest goals during the season. Heading into the season finale, the Avalanche had allowed just 203 goals. The next-closest team to them was the Dallas Stars, which allowed 226 goals throughout the season.

Since both goaltenders played more than 25 games, each will get his name on the trophy.

“I like it a lot,” Jared Bednar said of his goaltenders winning the award. “It was one of our goals at the start of the year … they’ve both been exceptional for us all year. The team has defended really well and consistently in front of them. I like that award as much as any other one.”