Colorado Avalanche center, Nathan MacKinnon, is playing well in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup of Hockey; will that success translate to the regular season?
The young Colorado Avalanche center — and future of the team — is playing well at the World Cup of Hockey so far. The speculative question remains: will that success translate to the regular season?
So far — in two games — Nathan MacKinnon has put up four points with two goals and two assists. He is also tied for the top point producer in the pre-tournament rounds with that total, along with Johnny Goudreau and Patrik Hornqvist.
He’s also a +5, and has not been on the ice for a goal against. His point total also includes one GWG as well (although that was in a 4-0 blowout when he scored the first goal).
Suffice it say, Nathan MacKinnon is having a good preliminary stage of the World Cup. You have to wonder if that success will not only continue into the tournament, but eventually the regular season for the Colorado Avalanche as well.
Nathan MacKinnon’s Linemates
In the first game, Nathan MacKinnon was on a line with Auston Matthews and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and he was playing wing. Nonetheless, he took a few faceoffs, and won 40 percent of them. He also only had 13:39 of ice time, but still notched two goals.
In Saturday’s game, Nathan MacKinnon was on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins again, but this time he was also reunited with Jonathan Drouin.
Once again, MacKinnon was playing wing as Nugent-Hopkins was given the faceoff duties. Still, MacK took a few draws and won 44 percent of them.
He also received an increase in ice time, getting 17:04 on the ice. MacK and Drouin lead the way in ice time for forwards, as both were over 17 minutes; Drouin received 17:13 in ice time. MacKinnon was also able to pick up two assists.
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So far in the tournament, MacKinnon has scored off the sticks of Aaron Ekblad and Johnny Goudreau, scored an unassisted penalty shot, picked up the lone assist on one of Aaron Ekblad’s goals, and assisted — along with Colton Parayko — on a goal from Gaudreau.
It looks like MacKinnon has developed the best chemistry with Gaudreau and Ekblad, and that’s some pretty stellar talent.
The point is, MacKinnon is playing with some really good players, players he’d usually never get the chance to play with.
So, you have to wonder if any of this success will translate to the regular season.
Nathan MacKinnon Learning How to Lead
Nathan MacKinnon is still very young, and he has a lot to learn, but he is one of the oldest and most experienced players for Team North America.
Sure, seven of the forwards are older than MacKinnon, but only four of those forwards have played more games in the NHL than MacK, and only three of those forwards have scored more points than MacK.
Nathan MacKinnon is being relied upon to lead for Team North America. He didn’t receive a letter from the coaching staff, but he’s been producing like the captain should (Connor McDavid has zero points) and he’s consistently one of the better players on the ice.
MacKinnon is in a position to lead for Team North America. And, that leadership is going to translate to the start of the season for the Colorado Avalanche.
Plus — if you haven’t seen it yet somehow — he’s doing fun things like this to goaltenders:
What I like about this video is how Nathan MacKinnon earned the penalty. He absolutely blew by the defender, something Colorado Avalanche fans saw a lot of in his first season, but not as much recently.
Conclusion
The tournament rounds for the World Cup of Hockey begin Saturday September 17 with USA facing Team Europe at 1:30 pm MST.
My pick to win the tournament has been Team North America since mid July. Their tournament begins Sunday September 18 against Team Finland at 6:00 pm MST.
Related Story: At Least There's the World Cup of Hockey
All of the games will be broadcasted on either ESPN or ESPN2 throughout the tournament. So, hockey fans are less than a week from watching some extremely entertaining hockey — if the pre-tournament rounds are any indication.
Next: World Cup of Hockey Good for Team
Just think, the Colorado Avalanche will be on the ice just less than a month after the World Cup begins.
Keep an eye on the rest of the Colorado Avalanche players too. Matt Duchene and Carl Soderberg both have a goal in the tournament, and Gabe Landeskog has an assist. Erik Johnson has no points, and he’s played in only one game. And, Semyon Varlamov has played in one game, stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced for a .971 save percentage and an OT loss.