Nathan Mackinnon's down years

[Iapyi]

Roy screwed up some of MacKinnon's development. He put him at C, on wing, 3rd line etc...just all over the roster which didn't give him the chance at developing his game as a top C.

I can see this being a viable component. Megalomaniacs can have a negative impact.

 

[Raym11]

better teammates, and a few years of training with Crosby

 

[Aurinko]

A lot of players get the supported by their coaches, families and especially parents to the point when you actually ask yourself who am I playing for?

I think the fact that he had the down years could have helped him to decide his own motivations. He has also mentioned that he started to handle his anger/competitiveness differently.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

MacKinnon started going to a sport psycholigist before his true breakout season. Always demanded a lot from himself but would start squeezing the stick as soon as things were not going the way he wanted.

Mack also started bulking up way too much after his rookie year and looked like a tank, however that made him lose some of his speed and explosiveness. Playing on bad Avs teams didn't help either.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

He's getting support.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Currently watching Mackinnon dominate the playoffs for a second straight year and it got me thinking about his relative "down years". After a very impressive rookie campaign, years 2-4 were relatively disappointing and it looked like he wouldn't reach the level many expected. Since then, in his years 5-8, he's become a superstar and arguably the 2nd best player in the league, and clearly the best playoff performer.

So what was up with the sub 60 point seasons from Mackinnon in years 2-4? Some players become stars later in their career (Marchand), but Mackinnon had a ridiculous amount of pre-draft hype, lived up to it in his rookie year, then went kind of quiet for a while before picking up on the trajectory he left off of. What happened/what changed to lead to his big break-out year/Hart finalist season in 2017-18? Was it something about the team that changed, or Mackinnon himself?

Look at his power play time and line mates.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

He's the 3rd best player in the league and 2nd best playoff performer:

Makar
Mcdavid
Mackinnon

Mmm

oh come on i love makar as much as the next guy but he is NOT the best player in the league. could be the best defenseman but overall player?? no way

 

[shadow1]

After his great rookie season, he looked like a player with all of the tools and no tool box.

If you look at his 2015, 2016, and 2017 seasons, he scored 51 goals on 688 shots (7.4 Sh%).

 

[tucker3434]

When he came into the league he was heavily reliant on his physical tools. It caught people off guard in his rookie year. Then teams adapted. It took him a while to figure things out and think the game better. His brain had to catch up to his hands and feet. At the time, I remember people calling him a low-IQ player, but really I think he just never had that challenge before. Why it took him 3 years to work it out, I have no idea. I’m just glad he did.

 

[EXTRAS]

oh come on i love makar as much as the next guy but he is NOT the best player in the league. could be the best defenseman but overall player?? no way

Was just razzing. Maybe in a couple years if he could put up 90+ points as a dman (which seems like he certainly could do at some point.)

 

[Sweetpotato]

His down seasons are nicely covered in spittin chicklets, basically a player too hard on himself that started exploring changing his diet and started seeing a sport psychologist at the same point that Duchene got moved and he became the 1C.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

In his own head.
Had like 25 pounds on.
wasn’t as good at hockey as he is now.

All these “team” arguments are bull shit. Mackinnon wasn’t anywhere near the best player on that team for a few years.

 

[mriswith]

Even 1st overall picks need developing.

Even clear franchise level, near generational talent 1st overall picks need development.

Many, many examples of this.

If Mackinnon hadn't eventually figured it out, I'm sure there would have been all sorts of backwards rationalizations for what the scouting community "missed" about his skillset instead of acknowledging the role development plays for all players.

 

[Avsfan1921]

I'm ashamed to say I wasn't sure he'd put it all together after those couple down years. You could see the physical tools but you could also see how much he struggled mentally. He didn't have confidence in any one part of his game it seemed and player mentality scares the hell outta me. Too many players have went through rough patches and never fully recovered. Very glad to see he was able to overcome it and become what he is today. This game is so crazy if you think about it, the thing that was holding him back now helps him to be what makes him so successful. He always holds himself (and his teamates lol) accountable and when the game matters, he wants to be the guy.

 

[BlueBull]

Nathan Mackinnon is the Modern Day equivalent of Guy Lafleur.
Started off their Careers as Decent, and maybe a mild dissapointment, then Abrubtly become a Top 3 NHL Player 4-5 years into their careers.

 

[Melrose Munch]

On top of growth not being linear, Avs had a bad team for a few years and some players had a bad influence. Once Duchene was traded Mackinnon took off.

Should have come back last offseason. He's better than Kadri, and I say that as a Kadri fan.

 

[OvieGreat8]

Same reason scoring went up for other players. Rule changes.

So stop bringing up meaningless observations.

 

[OvieGreat8]

He's the 3rd best player in the league and 2nd best playoff performer:

Makar
Mcdavid
Mackinnon

Mmm

Zero 100 point seasons
Zero 50 goals seasons
Zero art Ross
Zero hart
Zero Richard
Zero cups
Zero conn Smythe
Zero leading in anything

Best player in the world.

 

[Hasbro]

One effect of the Duchene trade was it led to the formation of the best line in hockey right now. You go from having 4 good forwards to 3, you might as well play them together and they just exploded.

 

[wetcoast]

the short answer is that Matt Duchene was traded and everything involving the Avalanche has been magically perfect since then

the long answer is that MacKinnon in his first years was plenty fast and had great hands but wasn't as strong or aggressive. He took a lot of shots off the rush as soon as he crossed the blueline which were not that effective. By the time he took off he was probably 20ish pounds heavier and began using his size much more. Additionally, getting Rantanen as a running mate and having Landeskog as the defensive presence (not infrequently taking center duties) helped a ton because they are also elite and their styles align so well -- they are a significant upgrade from playing on a line with guys like Mikhail Grigorenko and the corpse of Jarome Iginla.

All of this plus finally getting prime PP MPG with a true PP QB in Tyson Barrie also helped.

 

[BigHitter67]

Currently watching Mackinnon dominate the playoffs for a second straight year and it got me thinking about his relative "down years". After a very impressive rookie campaign, years 2-4 were relatively disappointing and it looked like he wouldn't reach the level many expected. Since then, in his years 5-8, he's become a superstar and arguably the 2nd best player in the league, and clearly the best playoff performer.

So what was up with the sub 60 point seasons from Mackinnon in years 2-4? Some players become stars later in their career (Marchand), but Mackinnon had a ridiculous amount of pre-draft hype, lived up to it in his rookie year, then went kind of quiet for a while before picking up on the trajectory he left off of. What happened/what changed to lead to his big break-out year/Hart finalist season in 2017-18? Was it something about the team that changed, or Mackinnon himself?

What happened? He became a MAN!

 

[Aurinko]

I think what makes Mackinnon so good could be the fact that they work/talk with tactics alot.

I mean... Have you ever seen a better line than the Av's 1st?

 

[majormajor]

It had nothing to do with team or linemates.

Mackinnon doubled his scoring by becoming less predictable, by practicing the art of deception. He was crazy fast and strong before, but he wasn't fooling anyone about what he was trying to do.

 

[AvsFan29]

Zero 100 point seasons
Zero 50 goals seasons
Zero art Ross
Zero hart
Zero Richard
Zero cups
Zero conn Smythe
Zero leading in anything

Best player in the world.

Just be patient.

 

[Kuhta]

So MacKinnon just found a way to ”click it” by himself when Rantanen arrived?

Mikko is the key for Avs success.