The Marvelous Career of Nathan MacKinnon (So Far)

I cannot believe that this upcoming NHL season will be Nathan MacKinnon's tenth in the league. Tenth. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I still remember the buzz surrounding MacKinnon near the tail end of the shortened 2012-13 season, which ended without a postseason berth for the Colorado Avalanche. At first, it was believed that the Avs would draft Seth Jones, but then the team's interest shifted to MacKinnon. I watched that year's draft, because the Avalanche had the #1 overall pick in the draft, and of course, we decided to draft Nathan Raymond MacKinnon, born in the Nova Scotian capital of Halifax on September 1, 1995, but served as one half of the NHL's Cole Harbour duo with the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby.

Some fun facts about that 2013 draft; it ended up being quite star-studded. Some notable names (other than MacKinnon and Jones) from that draft: Aleksandar Barkov, Elias Lindholm, Jake Guentzel, Darnell Nurse, Bo Horvat, Anthony Mantha, Shea Theodore, Ryan Hartman, and last but not least, Valeri Nichushkin, Andre Burakovsky, J.T. Compher, and Artturi Lehkonen (just to name a few). Those last four names ended up joining MacKinnon with the Avalanche, and were part of the team's 2022 Stanley Cup Championship.

MacKinnon's first season was quite fun for this Avs fan. I remember watching as MacKinnon racked up helper after helper, but I was pulling for him to finally get that first one--that first goal. It was on a Saturday night in Washington D.C. that MacKinnon scored his first career NHL goal, and he would follow that up with 23 more after that. 24 goals, 39 assists, 63 points for MacKinnon, whose efforts contributed to the Avs winning the newly formed Central Division. Shockingly, the Avalanche were upset in seven games by the Minnesota Wild in the opening round, but MacKinnon had one hell of a playoff series debut. In his first playoff game, he had three assists, one of them on Paul Stastny's OT winner. His first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal came in Game Two, and his only other goal was an OT winner in Game Five. In all, MacKinnon had 10 points (2 G/8 A) in his first playoff series, and he would go on to win the Calder Trophy that same season.

MacKinnon continued his contributions as the seasons progressed, but he couldn't top his rookie season. Surprisingly, the closest he came to matching his rookie year was the 2016-17 season--yes, that season. It was a catastrophic season for the Avalanche. Nothing was going right with the team. 48 points. The worst season since moving from Quebec. Even then, MacKinnon had 53 points (16 G/37 A), but 14 of those goals were on the power play, and this resulted in his worst Plus/Minus of his career: -14. When a team has a season like that, they have nowhere else to go but up, and that upward spiral shockingly began on the evening of November 5, 2017.

Avalanche fans remember that date very well: the Matt Duchene trade. The three team deal that involved the Nashville Predators and the Ottawa Senators that sent Duchene to the latter, and it was on that date that the Avalanche officially became MacKinnon's team. Boy, did he prove it! 39 goals, 58 assists, 97 points, all highs for MacKinnon. His 39th and last goal of that 2017-18 season came in the Avalanche's 82nd game of the year: a vital game between the Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues where the winner would clinch the last playoff spot remaining. MacKinnon's goal made it 3-1, and the Avalanche went on to win 5-2 and return to the playoffs after three shaky seasons. It was another first round exit for the Avalanche, this time in six games against the Nashville Predators, but regarding MacKinnon, he added another six points (3 G/3 A) to his budding playoff total.

I remember how that season ended, I remember my elation, and to this day, I still say that the Avalanche's resurgence happened a year ahead of schedule. Even so, just when it appeared that the 2018 playoff berth would be a one-off, the Avalanche returned to the playoffs in the 2018-19 season. That year, MacKinnon cracked 40 goals for the first (and, so far, only) time in his career, netting 41 pucks and racking up 58 assists for a grand total of 99 points--which is a season high as of this point. That year saw the Avalanche win a playoff series for the first time since 2008, and MacKinnon's first goal of the 2019 playoffs was an amazing overtime winner in Game Two against the Calgary Flames, who the Avs would eliminate in five games. Colorado's run ended with a seven game loss to the San Jose Sharks, and regarding MacKinnon: 6 goals, 7 assists, 13 points in 12 playoff games.

The way the Avalanche started the 2019-2020 season led this Avs fan (among many others) to see big things for the team. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the season to pause on March 11, 2020, but it would result in a modified postseason that included seeding games for the top four teams in each conference, while some others played in a play-in round. The Avalanche won two of the three seeding games to become #2 in the Western Conference, and afterwards, the Avs ousted the Arizona Coyotes in a five game opening round series, but were defeated by the Dallas Stars in the West Semis in seven games in that Edmonton bubble. In 69 regular season games, MacKinnon had 93 points (35 G/58 A), meaning that he would have clearly surpassed the century mark in a full season. Regarding the playoffs: 9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points for MacKinnon in 15 games.

By this point, the Avalanche became Cup favorites, as the previous season was the team's best in so many years. The shortened 56-game 2020-21 saw the Avalanche capture the Presidents' Trophy for the first time since the 2000-01 season, and regarding MacKinnon: 20 goals, 45 assists, 65 points in 48 regular season games. The Avs swept the St. Louis Blues in the West Division Semifinals, which saw MacKinnon pick up his first career playoff hat trick in Game Two of the series. Unfortunately, the Avalanche were ousted in a six-game West Division Final by the Vegas Golden Knights, and I still remember how crestfallen I was after that loss. The Avalanche won their first six playoff games, but from Game Three on, the team just...well...quit. What hurt me even more than the loss was MacKinnon's final post-game presser. We all remember MacKinnon's words during that interview:

"I've been here almost nine years, and I haven't won shit."

That was anger and frustration, and we, as Avalanche fans, all felt it. The statements going in my mind after that Game Six loss, "We blew it. We blew it. This was our best chance to win, and we blew it." 3rd straight second round loss. The Avs were in danger of becoming what the Washington Capitals were for so many years until 2018 happened. In spite of all this, the Avalanche entered the 2021-22 season as Cup favorites, and this time, they would take no chances.

MacKinnon only played 65 games in 2021-22, but racked up 88 points (32 G/56 A). The Avalanche had their best season since the 2000-01 season and won the Central Division for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Round 1 saw Colorado sweep the Nashville Predators, but then there was Round 2 against the St. Louis Blues. MacKinnon actually had a few problems getting goals in that series, but Game Five saw MacKinnon pick up his second career playoff hat trick, with his third goal being a potential series clincher. The Avs actually lost Game Five in OT, but won Game Six to advance to the Final Four for the first time in 20 years. The Western Conference Final ended in a four game sweep over the Edmonton Oilers, with MacKinnon scoring a clutch game-tying goal in Game Four. As for the Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche won in six games over the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were going for their third straight Cup. The series clinching Game Six ended with a 2-1 score, with MacKinnon's goal tying the game.

After the loss to Vegas, Nathan MacKinnon fretted that he "hadn't won shit." Now he has. In the 2022 playoffs, MacKinnon scored thirteen goals, which was tied for the overall lead, and added 11 assists for 24 points, and his efforts resulted in his first Stanley Cup. Seeing MacKinnon raise the Stanley Cup above his head for the first time was the greatest sight in the world for me, it was long overdue for one of the NHL's best players. So far, MacKinnon's career has been quite brilliant; in nine seasons, he has scored 242 goals and racked up 406 assists for a grand total of 648 points in 638 games played. In the playoffs: 41 goals, 52 assists, 93 points in 70 career playoff games. While MacKinnon did take home the Calder in his rookie year, he has yet to win the Hart Trophy, which is an absolute travesty, but he does have the trophy that matters the most: the Stanley Cup.

Nathan MacKinnon's not done yet, not even close. He will enter his tenth season in the NHL, he's still under 30, which means he has plenty of time to add more accolades to his storied career--including more Stanley Cups. MacKinnon's next Cup could come as soon as this upcoming season, and it's possible that he could be the franchise's all-time leading goal scorer. But for now, I will continue to enjoy watching Nathan MacKinnon tear it up, and loudly cheer every time he puts one in the net.