NHL legend nаmeѕ Colorаdo Avаlаncһe ѕtаr аmong generаtіonаl tаlentѕ

NHL legend Wayne Gretzky named Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon among this generation's top three most talented players during TV broadcast.

NHL legend Wayne Gretzky named Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon among the list of generation talents in the game today.

During Friday night’s TV broadcast during the Chicago Blackhawks-Washington Capitals game, in which Alex Ovechkin tied the Great One’s all-time goal-scoring mark, Gretzky commented on the players in the game today.

Gretzky discussed how the torch was passed from his generation, which included Hall of Famers such as Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux, to future inductees such as Sidney Crosby and Ovechkin.

Then, Gretzky went on to state the current crop of generational talents, naming “now we got McDavid, MacKinnon, Matthews.” Gretzky concluded his praise saying, “The game just gets better all the time.”

The three names Gretzky dropped among the NHL’s current generational talents speak volumes of the respect the Great One has for Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon.

With that sort of praise, it’s easy to argue MacKinnon as the frontrunner for this year’s Heart Trophy race. With about a half-dozen games to go in the season, MacKinnon will hopefully continue adding to his impressive career totals that already include surpassing the 1,000-point plateau this season.

The only thing that would look better on his resume than another Hart Trophy would be another Stanley Cup.

Nathan MacKinnon leading race for first career Art Ross Trophy

Nathan MacKinnon is also in line to win this year’s Art Ross Trophy. Last season, MacKinnon finished a close second to Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov captured the Art Ross Trophy, as the NHL’s leading scorer, by four points.

Kucherov’s tremendous season, in which he notched 100 assists, gave him 144 points on the year. MacKinnon finished second with 140.

This season, MacKinnon leads the pack with 114 points. Kucherov is right behind him with 111. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl is not too far behind with 106.

The Avalanche have five games remaining on their schedule. Hopefully, Nathan MacKinnon can keep up his torrid pace to capture his first Art Ross Trophy. MacKinnon has finished top-five in NHL scoring the last two seasons.

As such, the hope is that MacKinnon can finally get over the hump and end the season as the NHL’s leading scorer. While the Avalanche may choose to sit MacKinnon in the last couple of games of the regular season, fans can bet that MacKinnon won’t be coming out of the lineup willingly.

There’s still plenty at stake even if the Avs look firmly entrenched in third place in the Atlantic Division. Ultimately, the postseason is much more important at this point. But that doesn’t mean that Nathan MacKinnon won’t be gunning for personal achievements, in addition to collective success.