The MVP deserves better than MIA.

Valeri Nichushkin, wherever he is, will turn 30 in March. The Avs have learned to live and even thrive without him. The postseason Avs don’t have that.

Gabe Landeskog turns 32 next month. The replacement cartilage in his knee will be 2 years old in May. He could play. Maybe not.

All we know for sure is that Colorado has yet to win a Stanley Cup without the services of a captain who can skate comfortably. And there probably won’t be another win until there’s a captain who can actually do it.

Don’t take this the wrong way – Landy’s comeback story, a warrior’s fight, is inspiring. It’s just that the uncertainty and stagnation that has engrained one of the NHL’s proudest franchises is absolutely insane.

Jonathan Drouin turns 30 in March. Devon Toews turns 31 in February. Josh Manson just turned 32.

Nathan MacKinnon turns 30 next September.

Every winter, as darkness falls and the snow rolls in to wrestle with the sun, the frame of Nate Dogg’s championship window creeps ever closer to the window sill.

The MVP deserves better than SMH.

These Hart Trophy years aren’t all glorious.

They are valuable.

Too precious to throw away.