Nathan MacKinnon?

[Wrath]

One thing he has improved on greatly since last year is faceoffs. He's actually become quite okay this year compared to last year when he was horrid.

He also seems less clueless playing defense, but is still prone to gaffes and stupid turnovers (although I would say he makes more turnovers in the neutral zone than anything).

The other teams have started counteracting his speed with more conservative defensive play, but he still has the speed and explosiveness, if he can figure out how to use it even after the other teams' adjustments, then he can still find a way to excel.

Also I'm happy to see that he's playing pretty strong on the boards, but he also tends to turn it over after winning a board battle.

TL;DR:
-Better at faceoffs this season
-Better defensively this season, but still below average IMO
-Too many turnovers of all sorts
-Needs to figure out how to utilize his speed

 

[Mrb1p]

He's also shooting at 6% which is about 2 points to low for the league average, let alone elite players. Give him 4 more goals and he's on pace for 65 points, which doesn't look so bad.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

All that guy does is stat watch, he tried to tell me Stamkos was our MVP at the 20 game mark. That enough tells you have much he knows about the TBL.



See Kucherov, Nikita 2013. But that would entail watching games.

Give it up.

 

[Sky04]

Give it up.

When people who actually watch games are against your small sample sized opinion, you should probably take a hint.

 

[Invictus12]

Seriously, what is he doing? Bad defensively, has the tendentions to disappear offensively. Everytime I watch the Avs, he seems to be "disconnected" from the game.. Just a very very disappointing season after all of the hype he was getting last year.

Him, Landeskog and ROR are the main reason why the Avs are underachieving heavily this season. Out of those players, I would expect MacKinnon to right his ship first, but it´s not happening.

Kevin Klein has more goals than him, it´s unacceptable to play like this for a guy with his level of exceptional talent. Sure, he´s still 19 but the Avs fans created such a high drama around him that you would expect something else than this now.

Any explanations?

Just a slump?

I personally think that a lot of players, when entering the NHL and excel at it, lose the sight that it wasn't just talent that got them there, it was hard work as well. Hence the 'sophmore slump' that seems all too common.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

When people who actually watch games are against your small sample sized opinion, you should probably take a hint.

It's okay. People have been wrong on HF before, they'll be wrong again. This thread is about MacKinnon anyways.

 

[EP40 AKA Lil Wayne]

Colorado is a team that still has a lot to figure out, they have a lot good material but has not put it together this season. Unlike Edmonton they are familiar with the concept of defense and will be fine in the end and so will "doing pretty good for being 19 year old"- Mackinnon.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

People had predictions for him to hit 75-80 points this year, which are some lofty expectations for a 19 year old. People also wouldn't have completely forseen the Avs' performance thus far and how lucky of a team they were at times last year. Getting outshot almost game after game can come back and hurt the entire team. They lost a key veteran in Stastny too.

If anyone bothered to watch him during the Avs/Wild series last year, Mackinnon was utterly dominant in Colorado's home games during that series. He showed shades of what he can be in such big games- he has that level of play.

Of course he still has to find himself, and there will be bumps in the road, but don't write this guy off. Let's wait until he's 24 and having the same "problems". He's a very special talent that shouldn't be taken for granted. Yeah he was a little overhyped, but he will be an elite player in this league.

 

[Love]

Send him to the WJC and let him work through this funk

 

[Will Hunting]

Well, I´m not gonna lie. MacKinnon, from what I´ve seen is NOT playing well now. Really not. But that alone wouldn´t be enough for making this thread, because the talented guy is 19 and 90% of that team just sucks. But this is kinda natural response to all those arrogant threads about him last year which were glorifying him in a ridiculous way.

We should have it both ways when it comes to an interesting player like this..
1) He´s doing well and his fans are glorifying him..OK, I will tolerate that.
2) But when he´s really not doing well and not fulfilling all those ridiculous statements about him, then WHY SHOULD WE NOT TALK ABOUT IT?

Lot of those people who are defending him here and who are questioning the meaning of this thread were just the people who were talking about him like he´s some GOD who´s gonna absolutely dominate very very soon.

So, here you have it, people.

 

[cgf]

He's mainly on the third pairing because he can be. It's easier for him to play his natural side while he keeps learning the game "sheltered" on the third pair. It's the most logical place for him right now. He actually played first pairing minutes with Weber near the beginning of last season as a rookie when Josi got concussed and he wasn't exactly awful in his time there.

Agreed. I was just being a dick in response to the "would be a first pairing dman on the avs" comment because the avs would likely end up following a similar developmental path with him if they had picked him. EJ and Barrie as the RHDs in the top 4 while Seth Jones plays the role Redmond's earned this year as the third pairing righty who gets PP time and moves up to the second pairing when we're chasing a game late and patrick decides to give Barrie a partner who's not a career AHLer. At least until Seth's play forced Patrick to move him into the top 4 and have Barrie play his offside.

Although having Seth Jones may well have changed the way things have developed for us on D since Roy arrived, so who knows if EJ and Barrie would've taken off like they have under Patrick. As those two have been hands down our best players in this craptastic season, and they've done so by raising their games to an even higher level than they were at last year. Plus having Seth Jones around may have changed the way Holden became more and more solid for us last year until he was playing with Barrie on a very attacking second pairing. Now that could've spared us from the contract he signed, which would be a good thing given how horrifically he's played this season, but last year he was genuinely useful and looked like a good #5 in the making if he improved his skating.

 

[cgf]

Why is it that every single year after a draft, the guy who ended up going #1 is suddenly consensus #1? I've seen it for MacKinnon, Yakupov, and Nugent-Hopkins recently and all of those guys had serious competition and disagreements as to whether they would go first.

Eh, I know what you're saying, but those three examples were actually pretty clearly the top guys in each of their respective drafts. I think Hall/Seguin was the last draft where the talent level between #1 and #2 was genuinely even. I still would've picked Landy over RNH just because I fell in love with Landy, but I would've known I was making the "wrong" pick because RNH's raw talent was even greater, though not by nearly as much as some were arguing at the time...especially my fellow avs fans who had jumped on the myth of Landy being a 3rd liner in the NHL and instead demanded Larsson to fix our defense or Huberdeau because points.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

When people who actually watch games are against your small sample sized opinion, you should probably take a hint.

I've watched a fair share of lightning games this seasons. About a third of their games played. Keep saying that though buddy. Let's just pretend Drouin is getting scratched 1/3 of his games recently because of some "management conspiracy"! Him performing poorly to Cooper's standards makes way more sense but why should we believe something so logical?

It's okay. People have been wrong on HF before, they'll be wrong again. This thread is about MacKinnon anyways.

Leave it to Sky to get hung up on a single sentence irrelevant to the thread. One true at that.

 

[Plastic Joseph]

Remember Seguin's slump?


Neither does most of hf

 

[FlaPanthers11]

Mods please change every occurrence of Nathan MacKinnon in this thread to Aleksander Barkov so it makes more sense!!!!!!!!!!

One of those has been used successfully in a shutdown center role as a 19 year old while the other can't play defense at all. Maybe that explains a little lack of production.

 

[DFC]

I've watched a fair share of lightning games this seasons. About a third of their games played. Keep saying that though buddy. Let's just pretend Drouin is getting scratched 1/3 of his games recently because of some "management conspiracy"! Him performing poorly to Cooper's standards makes way more sense but why should we believe something so logical?



Leave it to Sky to get hung up on a single sentence irrelevant to the thread. One true at that.

Because you, with your ten games watched, are literally the only person saying that.

I would believe that the coaching staff is afraid he'll wear down. I would even believe that attitude problems are leading to his being scratched. But his play's been fine. It's about as close to a consensus as you'll get among Lightning fans.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

Thats just not true. Mackinnon was the consensus #1. 3 teams all passed on Jones for a reason.

You must not understand the concept of scouting rankings.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

Because you, with your ten games watched, are literally the only person saying that.

I would believe that the coaching staff is afraid he'll wear down. I would even believe that attitude problems are leading to his being scratched. But his play's been fine. It's about as close to a consensus as you'll get among Lightning fans.

Keyword. Management does not poll you for your opinion, they make their own.

 

[Mrb1p]

Because you, with your ten games watched, are literally the only person saying that.

I would believe that the coaching staff is afraid he'll wear down. I would even believe that attitude problems are leading to his being scratched. But his play's been fine. It's about as close to a consensus as you'll get among Lightning fans.

I'll say it too. Drouin is worthy of being scratched. Do I think it's wise to scratch him even if he's playing badly? Not at all.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Meh. People can blame HF for the hype, but the AVs are getting it from other teams fans because they we're very..shall we say..cocky? last year, and over hyped their own players.

I mean they had a great season, I get why. However now all those guys they paraded around as the next thing or better then your player aren't living up to their hype.

Now people are questioning it. You lie in the bed you make.

 

[Tralfamadore]

One of those has been used successfully in a shutdown center role as a 19 year old while the other can't play defense at all. Maybe that explains a little lack of production.

MacKinnon has shown improvements in the defense area. Can the same be said about Barkov's offensive game? 2nd overall shutdown center, very nice...

 

[Bee Sheriff]

I'll say it too. Drouin is worthy of being scratched. Do I think it's wise to scratch him even if he's playing badly? Not at all.

I actually agree with that last part as well. It takes a tough mentality to accept being scratched when you're used to being the star of a team, not to mention when you have the pressure of expectations.

 

[Sky04]

I've watched a fair share of lightning games this seasons. About a third of their games played. Keep saying that though buddy. Let's just pretend Drouin is getting scratched 1/3 of his games recently because of some "management conspiracy"! Him performing poorly to Cooper's standards makes way more sense but why should we believe something so logical?

How not? Drouin did exactly that and has worse numbers depsite having every opportunity to play with Stamkos yet no one makes a fuss about him. MacKinnon has no wingers, probably not even teammates as talented as him on the Avalanche, yet this thread was made.

You're the one who brought up Drouin with this idiotic statement, which further shows how clueless you are about the team.

You're right Mackinnon's numbers wouldn't look so bad if he started this year, but he didn't and has a year of NHL experience under his belt so he's held to a higher standard in terms of performance.

"Mackinnon has no wingers"-Most common line mates are one Gabriel Landeskog (17 points) and Jarome Iginla (16 points), what else you got?

 

[Xavier Laflamme*]

To many people were expecting a Sidney Crosby type of leap from him. Crosby put up 120 points his second season in the league en route to an Art Ross and Hart Trophy. The hype, specifically after MacKinnon's very good post season got unreal and people were going nuts. It's natural for a young player to regress before he comes into his own and I'm sure Mack will do that and become a top 10 player in the NHL at some point but expecting him to challenge Crosby as the best player in the world after his rookie season was/is absurd.

 

[Will Hunting]

Meh. People can blame HF for the hype, but the AVs are getting it from other teams fans because they we're very..shall we say..cocky? last year, and over hyped their own players.

I mean they had a great season, I get why. However now all those guys they paraded around as the next thing or better then your player aren't living up to their hype.

Now people are questioning it. You lie in the bed you make.

Agreed. That´s part of the reason why this thread was made.