Has Nathan MacKinnon finally got back to his rookie form?

[McMetal]

Underwhelming career thus far for a guy touted as a generational talent.

I don't remember anybody tagging him as generational, ever. Franchise center, sure, but nobody in that draft was ever looked at to be more than that.

He still may become a franchise C. It certainly looks like Duchene leaving has opened the floodgates for him to feel like the team belongs to him now. When he plays confident, he is unstoppable. For a toolsy player like him, maybe it took a little longer to bring everything together than it would have been for a different type of player. But if this is really what it looks like when he turns a corner in his career, watch out world.

 

[El Travo]

So, what I’m getting is:

You have a superstar, young 1C.
Your cap situation is pretty much optimal.
Your core is young and still growing.
You seem to have stolen an absolute stud in Girard.
You have a boatload of future draft picks.
Your prospect pool is very strong and diverse and has great depth on top of considerable talent (Jost, Makar, Meloche, Timmins, off the top of my head).
And you have a winning record and are currently developing a very hot streak following the trading of one of your top players, while playing exciting hockey.

That’s it, where do I sign up to be an Avalanche fan.

Just remember, Sakic is like the worst GM according to HF.

 

[Benedict Kovalchuk]

Carried the team to what? A last place finish? He didn't carry anything. You can say he was the best player on the worst team in the league but how can you say he carried them when the season amounted to nothing?

Totally agreed. MacKinnon was fine player last year and an even better one this year, but there is a reason why the Hart trophy will never go to player that can't bring their team to the playoffs, no matter how good they are.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

MacKinnon is on a tear currently and easily has been one of the best players in the league recently. Number 3 to be exact according to NHL.com. The Avs are greatly improved and are not the laughing stock of the league anymore. They are still a bubble team at best this season and headed in the right direction.

 

[Ivan13]

20 points in his last 10 games. Since Duchene has been traded he has become a juggernaut.

 

[Freaky Styley]

20 points in his last 10 games. Since Duchene has been traded he has become a juggernaut.

People point to the Duchene trade but the real catalyst has been Landeskog moving to his line. Top 5 line in the league since they've been put together. The Duchene trade just cleared the air in the locker room and it's been showing on the ice. If you don't include the 2 games vs. Ottawa in Sweden (in which they were missing guys like Kamenev, Soderberg etc due to non-injury reasons and still should have won the first game, but I digress) they are 3-1 post Duchene trade and look like they are having fun again. Winning is contagious, especially with a young team.

 

[Dominance]

Just remember, Sakic is like the worst GM according to HF.

How could anyone forget? There were, what, five threads pertaining to his inability at any given time?

 

[Jarey Curry]

So, what I’m getting is:

You have a superstar, young 1C.
Your cap situation is pretty much optimal.
Your core is young and still growing.
You seem to have stolen an absolute stud in Girard.
You have a boatload of future draft picks.
Your prospect pool is very strong and diverse and has great depth on top of considerable talent (Jost, Makar, Meloche, Timmins, off the top of my head).
And you have a winning record and are currently developing a very hot streak following the trading of one of your top players, while playing exciting hockey.

That’s it, where do I sign up to be an Avalanche fan.

Im seeing a lot of positive which is good but so did everyone else after 13-14' season, all the experts touted the Avs were going to be the strongest young team for years and then the negative list hit us hard... However this time it's going to be more of a steady rise instead and I believe we're on the right track.

 

[Foppberg]

So, what I’m getting is:

You have a superstar, young 1C.
Your cap situation is pretty much optimal.
Your core is young and still growing.
You seem to have stolen an absolute stud in Girard.
You have a boatload of future draft picks.
Your prospect pool is very strong and diverse and has great depth on top of considerable talent (Jost, Makar, Meloche, Timmins, off the top of my head).
And you have a winning record and are currently developing a very hot streak following the trading of one of your top players, while playing exciting hockey.

That’s it, where do I sign up to be an Avalanche fan.

That's where they get ya, they show you all this hope and shiny new toys and then once you're in.. The Guenin's, Brad Stuart's, Cliche's etc show up and you question what it is you've just done but by then it's too late you're hooked.

 

[cgf]

So, what I’m getting is:

You have a superstar, young 1C.
Your cap situation is pretty much optimal.
Your core is young and still growing.
You seem to have stolen an absolute stud in Girard.
You have a boatload of future draft picks.
Your prospect pool is very strong and diverse and has great depth on top of considerable talent (Jost, Makar, Meloche, Timmins, off the top of my head).
And you have a winning record and are currently developing a very hot streak following the trading of one of your top players, while playing exciting hockey.

That’s it, where do I sign up to be an Avalanche fan.

Just be forewarned that the avs are the type of team who goes on a surprise playoff run instead of tanking for one final season during a year where the draft so perfectly fits their remaining needs (top pairing dmen & scoring wingers). As an avs fan I am going to consider it a victory if Joe doesn't use some of the assets he's amassed to buy at the TDL instead of just sitting tight and loading up in this draft to become a real contender moving forward.

Throw in how trigger-shy Sakic is on the big decisions, and the life of an avs fan can be very frustrating despite how exciting our U24 lineup looks.

 

[Foppberg]

Aren't you a Leafs fan anyways? Why would you wanna leave that just when they're getting good?

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

there is no doubt that colorado is "positioned to be good"

whether they actually become good or not is a whole different thing.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

3 assists so far tonight. He's electric right now.

WTF. This is one of the most insane stats ever. It's actually threadworthy on its own lol.

So Nathan Mackinnon, 7th in the NHL in points per game, 12th in total points (25 points total), scored his FIRST non-primary point of the season last night in his 20th game of the season.

Just really think about that for a second. He's literally carrying the team on his back right now.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I dont get that though. It's not correct unless he has a different definition or primary point that he's talking about.


If Primary Assist or the goal itself is considered primary points, then Mackinnon has a lot of points that aren't primary points so I'm a bit confused by that to be honest.

 

[falconski]

I dont get that though. It's not correct unless he has a different definition or primary point that he's talking about.


If Primary Assist or the goal itself is considered primary points, then Mackinnon has a lot of points that aren't primary points so I'm a bit confused by that to be honest.

I think it’s even strength primary points, the rest of the secondary assists are on the PP I believe

 

[eddie416]

I dont get that though. It's not correct unless he has a different definition or primary point that he's talking about.


If Primary Assist or the goal itself is considered primary points, then Mackinnon has a lot of points that aren't primary points so I'm a bit confused by that to be honest.

A lot?

5v5 MacKinnon has 13 points, 12 are primary.
In all situations he has 25 points, 22 of which are primary.

He's 5th in the league in primary points behind Kucherov, Schwartz, Stamkos and Gaudreau.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

People point to the Duchene trade but the real catalyst has been Landeskog moving to his line. Top 5 line in the league since they've been put together.

This. I have been on Bednar's case since he took over and broke that line up last year. It's a special type of chemistry that all 3 of Landeskog-MacK-Rantanen have together. Given that the oldest among them is 24, they could easily be a top 5 line in the league for the next ten+ years.

 

[cgf]

With his assist & OT winner last night Nate has hit 28 points; bringing him into a tie for 10th in the entire league and seeing him already half way to a new career high in assists after just 23 games. But looking beyond the numbers, the kid has really taken ownership of the team and is starting to reliably do franchise-player-things when the team needs him to step up & carry them; i.e.:

Last night MacK had an OT goal called back because Barrie had been tripped into the offensive zone by Lowry; and while trying to get back to his feet Tyson lifted his body that had been on the blueline off the ice, thus ending up a few inches offside when the puck entered the zone. So what does MacKinnon do after what could've been a hugely deflating disallowed goal? He goes right back out there with the Avs top PP unit and buries a second puck past Hellebuyck just a few moments later.