Colorado Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon’s Player Grade
By Ross Sellers
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is on the docket today for his season player grade.
The Playoffs have begun, and the Colorado Avalanche are obviously not part of the festivities. So, let’s continue our player grades by looking at center Nathan MacKinnon.
Nathan MacKinnon is a bonafide star in the making, and he’s probably one of the only untouchable players on the roster during this off-season. Sure, Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen probably also fall under that category, but they could still get moved if the price is right.
Nathan MacKinnon is not going anywhere, and there is good reason why. He’s one of the top-two centers on the Colorado Avalanche, he’s only 20 years old (21 next season), and he’s already racked up 153 points in the NHL.
MacK started out hot this season, but slowly cooled off as it progressed. He was still able to muster the third most points on the team while playing in fewer games than the two players ahead of him, and he also had the most shots on the team by a wide margin.
Player Statistics
Stats:
| GamesPlayed | Goals | Assists | Points | Goal % of Points | Assist % of Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 21 | 31 | 52 | 40.4% | 59.6% |
| Even Strength Goal % | PP Goal % | SOG | Shooting % | Even Strength Assist % | PP Assist % |
| 66.7% | 33.3% | 245 | 8.6% | 67.7% | 29.0% |
| Take Aways | Give Aways | Turnover +/- | Blocks | Hits | TOI per Game |
| 28 | 39 | -11 | 53 | 46 | 19:26 |
Player Grade: B+
Nathan MacKinnon gets a B+ because he’s definitely still got some things to work on. For example, his shooting percentage has to be better than 8.6% because that’s pretty dismal for a player of his caliber.
Also, it was mentioned earlier that MacK started out the season on fire, which is true because he had 24 points in his first 23 games, and ended the year with just 28 points in his last 49 games.
Those numbers also correlated to 10 goals in his first 23 games, and a measly 11 goals in the final 49 games.
If Nathan MacKinnon truly wants to become the star player on this team, and the leader of this team, then he needs to learn how to keep those numbers consistent throughout the year.
Still, Nathan MacKinnon took another step forward this season, and Avalanche fans can expect a lot out of him next year, especially a nice new contract.
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Player Future
Nathan MacKinnon will be with the Colorado Avalanche for the foreseeable future, and he may even be a franchise player for the team if he continues to grow and develop into one of the most dangerous players in the league.
He will most likely receive a big contract upgrade this summer, and will hopefully come into next season with the confidence to dominate the NHL.
The talent is there, but the consistency is lacking slightly right now, and his future in the NHL will depend on consistency. That does not mean that he will find himself out of a job if he continues to lack consistency because that’s just preposterous.
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What it does mean, is that Nathan MacKinnon can either become one of the most elite players to set foot on NHL ice, or just a normal star who is pivotal to his team’s success, but not capable of taking games over at will.
He is still extremely young, and has a lot to learn and grow into with his skill, so the future looks extremely bright for MacK, especially if the Colorado Avalanche can solidify a good winger for him to play with.
That winger could either be the current Mikkel Boedker, or a long-shot acquisition of Jonathan Drouin.
Mikko Rantanen could also prove to be a good fit with Nathan MacKinnon. Either way, the Colorado Avalanche need to surround Matt Duchene and MacK with good skilled wingers that will elevate their game.
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Or, they could consider trading Duchene, and using MacKinnon and Soderberg as their top-two centers, which would allow them some cap space, and a possible highly-skilled acquisition on either defense, or in the wing position.
The offseason is going to be full of speculation, and the Colorado Avalanche are in certain need of some roster changes, but don’t expect MacK to be going anywhere. However, some turnover in the core is a very likely scenario.