Confirmed with Link: MacKinnon extended! 8 years, 12.6 AAV

[Pierce Hawthorne]

His defense hasn't improved at all. If anything its gotten worse in recent years(Last year was the worst of his career). Losing Landy as his winger has really impacted that part of his game. I dont think people fully understand how much heavy lifting Landy does on the defensive side of the game(Going to be such a huge boost when he comes back).



All that being said, who cares when he's on pace for 130 points and ultimately who cares about the regular season. Playoffs are where it matters and while he's still not great defensively, the effort level on that side of the puck ramps up to a 10 from him when the games start to matter, and that makes a huge difference with him.

 

[JoeSakic13]

View attachment 615938

His defense hasn't improved at all. If anything its gotten worse in recent years(Last year was the worst of his career). Losing Landy as his winger has really impacted that part of his game. I dont think people fully understand how much heavy lifting Landy does on the defensive side of the game(Going to be such a huge boost when he comes back).



All that being said, who cares when he's on pace for 130 points and ultimately who cares about the regular season. Playoffs are where it matters and while he's still not great defensively, the effort level on that side of the puck ramps up to a 10 from him when the games start to matter, and that makes a huge difference with him.

I mean I’d be more worried if we weren’t so stacked on defense.

However yes he does benefit a lot from Landy and Nuke picking up the slack on the other side of the play.

 

[willy702]

Pacing for 129 points lol. That would be awesome. I’d like to see him hit 100 just for the novelty. His defence and overall game has improved immensely the last year or two.

Nate must have told Sakic pay me 100k per point so 126 points per season is his new minimum.

 

[Vaslof]

33 points in 21 games so far this year. Is that good?

Remember that MacK always starts slow. The PPG will be going up.

 

[Chiarelli]

View attachment 615938

His defense hasn't improved at all. If anything its gotten worse in recent years(Last year was the worst of his career). Losing Landy as his winger has really impacted that part of his game. I dont think people fully understand how much heavy lifting Landy does on the defensive side of the game(Going to be such a huge boost when he comes back).



All that being said, who cares when he's on pace for 130 points and ultimately who cares about the regular season. Playoffs are where it matters and while he's still not great defensively, the effort level on that side of the puck ramps up to a 10 from him when the games start to matter, and that makes a huge difference with him.

This does not match the eye test for me at all. Can you elaborate further? Seems he puts in way more effort back checking and battling then he did earlier in his career.

 

[Pokecheque]

This does not match the eye test for me at all. Can you elaborate further? Seems he puts in way more effort back checking and battling then he did earlier in his career.

Effort is one thing--having actual defensive ability and instincts is entirely another.

It's true he's not floating around in the defensive zone anymore but that doesn't mean he's good. He continually forgets to pick up coverages, in fact one of the goals Winnipeg scored on the rush was because MacKinnon failed to pick up the trailer (I think it was Scheifele) who was well within reach. And while he's damn near elite at skating the puck out of the zone he also has the capacity to make some mind-numbing decisions with the puck at times. The fact that he doesn't have great hockey sense is well-documented, that issue is compounded in his own zone.

All that said, it's fine. He's never going to be good defensively and that's okay. He puts in the effort and that's all anyone can ask. He more than makes up for it in the other two zones. And while he's not good defensively, he's also not Patrick Kane either.

 

[Chiarelli]

Effort is one thing--having actual defensive ability and instincts is entirely another.

It's true he's not floating around in the defensive zone anymore but that doesn't mean he's good. He continually forgets to pick up coverages, in fact one of the goals Winnipeg scored on the rush was because MacKinnon failed to pick up the trailer (I think it was Scheifele) who was well within reach. And while he's damn near elite at skating the puck out of the zone he also has the capacity to make some mind-numbing decisions with the puck at times. The fact that he doesn't have great hockey sense is well-documented, that issue is compounded in his own zone.

All that said, it's fine. He's never going to be good defensively and that's okay. He puts in the effort and that's all anyone can ask. He more than makes up for it in the other two zones. And while he's not good defensively, he's also not Patrick Kane either.

I thought he did a nice job against McDavid in the playoffs last year all things considered.

 

[Foppa2118]

I think Nate has improved defensively the last couple years, but the proof comes in spurts. In big moments where the team needs a big back check, or him to have a good stick. He's made quite a few great defensive plays in this regard the last couple years.

But he's still pretty inconsistent defensively. He occasionally loses his man and doesn't always back check very hard.

That said, I think it's the right approach for a player like Nate who's so talented offensiely, and expels so much energy skating and battling in the O zone, to find time during his shifts to coast a bit and conserve energy while in the D zone.

I love two way players, but it's kind of too much to ask for an explosive player like Nate to be a defensive horse, and still have the energy to skate like he does and work as hard as he does in the O zone. That's why roles are so important, because everyone can't do everything that you need to win. Landy, Nuke, and Lehky can handle the defensive work load, while Nate's role is mostly offensive production.

One thing I really don't like that he does though, and wish he would improve on, is how slowly he coasts to the bench for line changes. He's always done this. Especially after something doesn't go his way in the O zone. It leads to lots of slow changes and almost burned the Avs on Kadri's big goal against Tampa.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I thought he did a nice job against McDavid in the playoffs last year all things considered.

He's definitely better in the playoffs. Though I would still say not great.

He just doesn't really care as much in the regular season. You can see it in his body language in a lot games that he really doesn't care about the regular season anymore.

Which is completely fine at this point. Put up big numbers offensively and then turn up the defensive effort when the games start to matter.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

He's definitely better in the playoffs. Though I would still say not great.

He just doesn't really care as much in the regular season. You can see it in his body language in a lot games that he really doesn't care about the regular season anymore.

Which is completely fine at this point. Put up big numbers offensively and then turn up the defensive effort when the games start to matter.

He needs to break that 100 point mark though. I hope it happens this season. He has a chance.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Nate MacKinnon > Connor McCoaster.

 

[Pokecheque]

I thought he did a nice job against McDavid in the playoffs last year all things considered.

IMO that was mostly Makar and Toews shutting McDavid down. What I liked more about the McDavid/MacKinnon matchup was that it forced McDavid to defend more than he's probably used to, and while we can debate about MacKinnon's defensive prowess, McDavid is atrocious defensively.

All that said I have no issue with MacKinnon's defensive game. So long as he remains the explosive offensive force that he is and continues to put an effort in all three zones, he can do what he wants. The Avs have done a great job of gameplanning around his strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Chiarelli]

IMO that was mostly Makar and Toews shutting McDavid down. What I liked more about the McDavid/MacKinnon matchup was that it forced McDavid to defend more than he's probably used to, and while we can debate about MacKinnon's defensive prowess, McDavid is atrocious defensively.

All that said I have no issue with MacKinnon's defensive game. So long as he remains the explosive offensive force that he is and continues to put an effort in all three zones, he can do what he wants. The Avs have done a great job of gameplanning around his strengths and weaknesses.

IMO that was mostly Makar and Toews shutting McDavid down. What I liked more about the McDavid/MacKinnon matchup was that it forced McDavid to defend more than he's probably used to, and while we can debate about MacKinnon's defensive prowess, McDavid is atrocious defensively.

All that said I have no issue with MacKinnon's defensive game. So long as he remains the explosive offensive force that he is and continues to put an effort in all three zones, he can do what he wants. The Avs have done a great job of gameplanning around his strengths and weaknesses.

You really notice/miss him when he’s absent. He’s a one man wrecking crew on zone entries. Watch a bad team on the power play, it takes 5 guys (and they fail often) to do what MacK does single handily multiple times on a nightly basis. He takes so much pressure off the other guys in the offensive zone and opens so much up.

 

[Pokecheque]

You really notice/miss him when he’s absent. He’s a one man wrecking crew on zone entries. Watch a bad team on the power play, it takes 5 guys (and they fail often) to do what MacK does single handily multiple times on a nightly basis. He takes so much pressure off the other guys in the offensive zone and opens so much up.

Yep the team obviously suffers offensively but they suffer defensively merely because they lose his ability to skate the puck out of danger and sustain pressure in the attacking zone. That’s where Nate is quite “good” defensively.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Mack is allergic to breaking the 100 point mark, pretty wild that he might never get there

 

[Alienblood]

IMO that was mostly Makar and Toews shutting McDavid down. What I liked more about the McDavid/MacKinnon matchup was that it forced McDavid to defend more than he's probably used to, and while we can debate about MacKinnon's defensive prowess, McDavid is atrocious defensively.

All that said I have no issue with MacKinnon's defensive game. So long as he remains the explosive offensive force that he is and continues to put an effort in all three zones, he can do what he wants. The Avs have done a great job of gameplanning around his strengths and weaknesses.

Was Byram in Edmonton

 

[MaKarter]

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

View attachment 620368

He needs to slow his roll to pace for 111 points again.

 

[Pokecheque]

Was Byram in Edmonton

True he did play a significant part in that.

 

[Foppa2118]

If any thread deserves a bump it's this one.

One of the things I respect the most in a player, is when they put in their best season AFTER they sign their big contract. Nate became the highest paid player and he's showing he deserves every penny of it.

So impressive what Nate has done to carry the team this year, when they really needed it. He's really turned into a true leader for this team on and off the ice. And a positive leader at that, cheering guys on from the bench, from what we've heard.

They've missed that positive leadership with Landy and EJ's absence, and Nate taking on that role more this year has played a huge part in the team's success IMO.

Was also great to see Nate in such good spirits after the Caps game. He puts so much pressure on himself to perform at a high level while remaining as even keel as possible, because he knows he's an emotional guy. Great to see him enjoying the moments lately rather than bottling it all up.

 

[BrickNHL]

Somehow he is underpaid again

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Yeah he is having a great year offensively and he is doing a pretty good job defensively as well. I really hope this is his year to finally win the Hart. He really deserves it.

I have always been one of his harsher critics about turnovers. I have to admit that for the past two months he has been pretty good at reducing those. He still has tendencies to force passes but overall he is doing much better.

 

[JWK]

Somehow he is underpaid again

He should've took a bridge deal, can't believe he fell for the same trick again

 

[Chiarelli]

I wanna say it’s karma that he passed up his own hat trick to give a teammate his first and then had 4 goals the very next game. But it’s not karma it’s leadership and hard work. I actually was just thinking he’s finally deserving of the ‘C’ and should have been wearing it this season in Landys absence.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

What I love about MacKinnon these last few years is just how workman like most goals are for him. He just doesn't really celebrate them anymore. I guess the novelty wears off when you net over 300 of them. If Nate keeps playing like this and stays healthy, he's got a potential shot at breaking 1,000 points before he turns 30. He's sitting on 841 now at 28 years old.