Nathan MacKinnon?
- Thread starter Will Hunting
- Start date
Enigmatic Canadian.
The hype around him was ridiculous. Even some of the media guys thought he would be one of the high end scorers this year.
Nathan MacDaigle.
The hype around him was ridiculous. Even some of the media guys thought he would be one of the high end scorers this year.
Nathan MacDaigle.
End on a Hinote
Registered Abuser
Obviously too early to even hint that he's a bust. Some players take time to adjust to their new place. I think he will live up to his expectations, at least more so than he is currently.
As a die hard Avs fan I tend to agree with the OP. Mack is far from overrated, he has the potential to be a top 5 center/forward in the world.
Personally I think it would be beneficial for him to be a healthy scratch for a game. It'll not only give him a chance to see the game at a different vantage point, but will also light a fire within him. Would be a shrewd move by Roy but I bet it'd work.
Personally I think it would be beneficial for him to be a healthy scratch for a game. It'll not only give him a chance to see the game at a different vantage point, but will also light a fire within him. Would be a shrewd move by Roy but I bet it'd work.
BeastoftheEast85
Registered User
To be fair everyone on the Avs has a bad season every other year (when the playoffs are an odd number year). Its been a team tradition since the lockout. He will probably rip apart the league next season and then bust again the season after.
gdsmack267
Registered User
jnk96
Registered User
This is just ridiculous. We even need an entire thread about this now? If you see at least around half the Avs games, you'll realize how talented he is. He's struggling right now compared to last year, but he's 19 and playing in his second NHL season. Nobody cares about Drouin not making the NHL in the first year and now putting up about .5 points a game, despite many people seeing him as the #1 pick before MacKinnon. MacK isn't as lucky as last year, doesn't get the support he had with Stastny and Landy last year, and it probably isn't easy on him mentally. He's still on pace to be the Avs' best scorer this season, just give him time and give it a rest.
poetryinmotion
Registered User
- Jul 12, 2011
- 5,876
- 159
I think you just answered your own question. Still going to be the best player in the league soon.
Romang67
BitterSwede
He's not putting up 80-90 points in his sophomore season like some people predicted? Shocking.
He'll be fine. There was never any certainty that he would improve on last year's production when that entire team overachieved.
He'll be fine. There was never any certainty that he would improve on last year's production when that entire team overachieved.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
He's learning to play Center in the NHL and teams have a season of footage of just how absurdly explosive he is so they give him a lot more space in transition to keep from getting burned. Last year MacK had Stastny and Duchene to center the toughest minutes so he started off on a sheltered third line with Parenteau and Jamie McGinn before joining the Landy-Stastny line as a RW who teams just weren't ready for. This year he has to Center tougher minutes, especially with Johnny Malkin being injured so often. Add in that Landeskog and O'Reilly have been awful this year, Iginla has been settling in, and his struggles shouldn't be a surprise. Plus his first few strides are just in a league of their own, so teams couldn't expect him to fly past people like he did. Now they know just how ridiculously good his burst is, and he's not playing as well or with as much confidence which is why he's not entirely a victim of his circumstances.
My biggest gripe isn't even his defense, it was dreadful last year and was going to need a lot of work whenever we transitioned him to C. No, my biggest complaint is that too often he'll fly into the zone with the puck and at speed, but instead of using that speed and his power to charge the net hard, he curls off to the outside. Letting the defense back off of him and play the pass to the trailer. Maybe if his shot was on he could still force the other team to focus on him when he curled away, but with his accuracy being so off this year that doesn't happen.
This year is about the avs core learning to deal with everything going wrong after everything went right for us last year until the last month of the season, and we'll be better in the long run for it. That said MacK isn't even the biggest disappointment on his line as he's at least still doing good things. Landeskog and O'Reilly on the otherhand have genuinely sucked for much of the season and didn't even look like themselves on the ice for the first 17 games, and even since then both still aren't close to where they have been in previous years Landy is much weaker on his skates and on the puck this year, while O'Reilly has been slower than he was as a rookie and his offensive-touch is missing.
EDIT:
I'd also like to point out that while there were certainly avs fans who drank the koolaid too hard last year and ignored both his poor defense and the reality that he would have many more struggles whenever he was going to have to carry the tougher burden of centering a top 6 line, a lot of the more over-the-top hype came from non-avs fans.
Still a crazy talent who should one day surpass duchene to be one of the league's most dangerous forwards, and no we shouldn't have done something silly like taken a lesser talent just because Seth Jones may have learned to play his offside well enough to partner EJ down the line. Seth Jones is going to be an excellent player, but his raw talent isn't as special as MacKinnon's, and when you pick first overall you take the biggest talent in the draft, even if we didn't have EJ, Barrie, Siemens, and now Bigras making inexperienced but talented D not our biggest need.
My biggest gripe isn't even his defense, it was dreadful last year and was going to need a lot of work whenever we transitioned him to C. No, my biggest complaint is that too often he'll fly into the zone with the puck and at speed, but instead of using that speed and his power to charge the net hard, he curls off to the outside. Letting the defense back off of him and play the pass to the trailer. Maybe if his shot was on he could still force the other team to focus on him when he curled away, but with his accuracy being so off this year that doesn't happen.
This year is about the avs core learning to deal with everything going wrong after everything went right for us last year until the last month of the season, and we'll be better in the long run for it. That said MacK isn't even the biggest disappointment on his line as he's at least still doing good things. Landeskog and O'Reilly on the otherhand have genuinely sucked for much of the season and didn't even look like themselves on the ice for the first 17 games, and even since then both still aren't close to where they have been in previous years Landy is much weaker on his skates and on the puck this year, while O'Reilly has been slower than he was as a rookie and his offensive-touch is missing.
EDIT:
I'd also like to point out that while there were certainly avs fans who drank the koolaid too hard last year and ignored both his poor defense and the reality that he would have many more struggles whenever he was going to have to carry the tougher burden of centering a top 6 line, a lot of the more over-the-top hype came from non-avs fans.
Still a crazy talent who should one day surpass duchene to be one of the league's most dangerous forwards, and no we shouldn't have done something silly like taken a lesser talent just because Seth Jones may have learned to play his offside well enough to partner EJ down the line. Seth Jones is going to be an excellent player, but his raw talent isn't as special as MacKinnon's, and when you pick first overall you take the biggest talent in the draft, even if we didn't have EJ, Barrie, Siemens, and now Bigras making inexperienced but talented D not our biggest need.
Last edited:
Bixby Snyder
IBTFAD
He'll be a good player but not the generational talent some hyped him up to be, Avs would have been better off taking Jones instead.
ROSSter
Registered User
- Jul 5, 2011
- 1,057
- 11
BC Ben
Registered User
I bought into the hype and drafted him high in my $$ fantasy league. I am saved by the fact that I am a savvy drafter (getting Little, Tyler Johnson, Filip Forsberg and a couple of key guys late or on the waiver wire).
I fielded offers early for MacKinnon when he started out slow, but I hate selling low. Now I am pot committed and have to hope he shakes out of his funk.
Last night's seven-shot performance was good to see.
I fielded offers early for MacKinnon when he started out slow, but I hate selling low. Now I am pot committed and have to hope he shakes out of his funk.
Last night's seven-shot performance was good to see.
Ceremony
blahem
- Jun 8, 2012
- 113,185
- 15,368
Why would you expect the 19 year old on his first underperforming NHL team to improve before older, more established (and arguably more complete) players?
Bixby Snyder
IBTFAD
Jones was the #1 rated player going into the draft but the Avs who needed defefense passed on the BPA to draft an other center they didn't need. Stupid move.
MikeModano9
Registered User
These kids come out of the Draft like gangbusters now a days. Their first year they are full of excitement and want to show the world what they have. Then the 2nd year comes around,they get a little comfortable, the checking gets tighter on them, things start to go against them and they lose confidence. Take confidence away from a 19 year old kid and you're in trouble.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Scratching MacK before Landy, ROR, Iginla, or even Duchene if he can't shake his current funk would be silly. He's a teenager dealing with a lot more adversity than he did last year and learning to play through it, the only thing scratching him might do is mess up his confidence even more.
Also yes. After one full year of hockey, Jones can safely be declared the better of him and Mackinnon.
Will Hunting
Immortal Adams
Because you can see that MacK is clearly the most talented and the most dynamic out of them. He is just not putting it together now and his defense is just terribad. ROR is what he is and Landeskog.. well.. we´ll see in his case.
Thats just not true. Mackinnon was the consensus #1. 3 teams all passed on Jones for a reason.
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