Colorado Avalanche spoiled by routine greatness of Nathan MacKinnon

Colorado Avalanche nation is blessed with watching the best player in hockey each night. The team has a litany of stars, but Nathan MacKinnon stands out as the brightest of them all, and burgundy and blue nation are the beneficiaries of it, getting to watch a surefire Hall of Famer right in front of our eyes on a regular basis.

MacKinnon has scored more points in one season than 23 teams’ all-time high points season. Only eight NHL franchises have had a player score 140 points or more in a season. Nasty Nate did just that in 2023-24, winning the Hart trophy as the NHL’s MVP.

Looking at this graph paints a who’s who of hockey royalty. Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman, Gilmour and Bossy are just a few names on this list. MacKinnon has more points in a season than all-time greats like Guy LaFleur, Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Selanne.

Even to a lay hockey fan, MacKinnon’s on a different level than everyone else. Watching him skate and gain speed through the neutral zone is something that only a few players in the league can do.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia native’s trophy cabinet is full of hardware he’s accumulated over his 12-year NHL career, including the Calder trophy (rookie of the year), a Hart Trophy (NHL MVP), the Lady Byng trophy (sportsmanship), the Lester Pearson (Now the Ted Lindsay) trophy as the NHL’s top scorer and of course, Lord Stanley's Chalice in 2022.

MacKinnon’s had five top-five finishes in the Hart trophy voting across his time in the league. Last year he led the league with 84 assists. He’s a seven-time All-Star.

Nate Dogg’s ability has been at the forefront of the Avalanche team success over the past several seasons, and he’s renowned league-wide for his intensity and his demand of excellence from his teammates.

MacKinnon has already accumulated hall of fame numbers if his career ended today - which it won't - considering he’s only 30 years old. The best is yet to come. He has totaled over 1,000 career points in his 870 games, all wearing the Avalanche sweater.

He has really taken another step over the last three seasons, scoring over 110 points each of the last three.  He’s scored more than 30 goals seven times in his career. He’s totaled 50 or more assists another seven times in his career.

No. 29 is getting better as he gets older. He trains with one of the greatest players of today’s generation in Sidney Crosby and being able to emulate how Crosby’s game has evolved as he’s gotten older is the next step for MacKinnon’s “development,” if it can be considered that.

MacKinnon is not slowing down. He’s got his sights set on adding more hardware to the trophy case, and that’s music to Avs fans’ ears, because wherever he goes, the team goes. Burgundy and Blue nation will appreciate MacKinnon’s greatness fully after he retires, but we ought to take it all in while it’s happening, because a player like him doesn’t come around often.