On June 30, 2013, the 51st NHL Entry Draft took place at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. Many teams were hoping to find their next franchise player and improve on their previous season’s performance. However, only one team could secure the first-overall pick, which happened to be the Colorado Avalanche, with an 18.8% chance. They used this pick to select talented Canadian center Nathan Mackinnon, who was widely regarded as a standout prospect.
After completing his season with the Halifax Moose Heads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Mackinnon scored 32 goals and 75 points in the regular season and 11 goals with 33 points in the playoffs, ultimately winning the championship. Mackinnon has played 733 games, scoring 793 points and still counting. In 2023-24, Mackinnon is aiming to break his personal and franchise records after a career season and cement his position as one of the all-time Avalanche and NHL greats.
This season, Mackinnon is aiming to climb the franchise ranks in various statistics, both personal career numbers, and looking to pass some all-time great Avalanche players ahead of him in games played, assists, and total points.
MacKinnon’s Games Played
Coming off his 734th NHL game against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec 5., Mackinnon had a goal and two assists as they beat the Ducks 3-2. He needs just four more games to pass Peter Stastny for sixth in all-time games played for the Avalanche. Barring injury, Mackinnon should pass his long-time teammate Gabriel Landeskog for fifth with 739 games played and be under Micheal Goulet for fourth all-time by the end of the season when he plays over 813 games.
Landeskog’s ranking is remarkable since, during his tenure with the Avalanche, he has only played an entire season once, which was back in 2016-17. He has been plagued by injuries in recent years and has only played in 108 games over the past three seasons – he will miss the remainder of this season as he continues to recover from surgery he underwent last offseason.
Still, at only 28 years old, MacKinnon has many years ahead of him to climb the ranks of all-time games played – Joe Sakic holds the record with 1378 (between the Avalanche and the Quebec Nordiques).
MacKinnon’s Career Assists
Mackinnon’s two assists also marked a special milestone for him in his career, as he has now accumulated over 500 assists. He is only the fourth Avalanche player to achieve this feat, joining the ranks of Peter Forsberg, Stastny, and Sakic. Mackinnon will now set his sights on surpassing Forsberg’s record of 538 assists, which could be a challenging but achievable goal, given his playing style and the talented players around him.
MacKinnon now only needs 39 assists to surpass Forsberg’s record. He has recorded over 56 assists in four of the past five seasons and last season, he set a career-high of 111 points and 69 assists. If Mackinnon and his team continue to perform well without any injuries or setbacks, he has the potential to break Forsberg’s record this season.
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Reaching the 500 career assist milestone would put him in the company of 17 active NHL players who have also achieved this feat. Notably, he would join Connor McDavid (26) as the only player to have 500 assists under the age of 30 currently playing.
MacKinnon’s Career Points
MacKinnon’s 793 career points place him just 13 points behind Milan Hejduk, who ranks fourth in all-time points by an Avalanche with 805, the Micheal Goulet for third at 946 points. Mackinnon is also quickly rising the list of all-time points by a Canadian. Currently ranked 129th, once he reaches 806 points, he will surpass Garry Unger, Justin Williams, and Rick Nash, to become 125th all-time.
His statistics in the same number of games last season compared to this season show that MacKinnon is on track to maintain his impressive point production again this season. In the first 25 games of 2022-23, Mackinnon had nine goals and 27 assists (for 36 points). This season, he has nine goals and 25 assists (for 34 points). This very similar start could be a sign of a similar ending to last season’s career highs.
Related: Colorado Avalanche 2023-24 Quarter-Season Review
Mackinnon is poised to reach the pinnacle of his career this season, and with a formidable team backing him, they are prepared to compete and secure another Stanley Cup. Sakic is widely regarded as among the greatest, if not the greatest, players in Avalanche history. Nevertheless, with Mackinnon’s tenacity and unwavering drive to succeed, it is only a matter of time before he begins to break some of Sakic’s records.