Colorado Avalanche Goals for Core Players in the 2017-18 Season

Nathan MacKinnon

2016-17 Points: 53 (16 goals, 37 assists)
Career Best Stats: 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 2013-14
2016-17 Shooting Percentage: 6.4%
Special Concern: Decreasing shooting percentage

Center Nathan MacKinnon is the Colorado Avalanche’s only first-overall draft pick, so the expectations are high for him. This is especially true since he won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in 2014.

To be fair, his 53 points last season led all Avalanche players. Goals-wise, he was fourth on the team. This is one of only two players GM Joe Sakic has labeled as untouchable, so you want a little better.

Here are some goals I think Nathan MacKinnon can reach this season:

• Achieve 9% or more shooting accuracy
• Record 60 points
• Keep shots total over 200

Except for his sophomore year, when he missed 18 games, MacKinnon has always recorded over 200 shots — he usually leads the team in that area. It’s good for him to keep that up.

What needs to happen is he needs to improve his shooting percentage. That may be attributed to where he’s shooting from, or it may have something to do with the shot itself. However, his shooting percentage has fluctuated throughout his four-year career with a downward trend. If he had reached the NHL-average 9% last season, he would have scored 22 goals instead of 16.

MacKinnon is showing himself to be a good playmaker, so he records a lot of assists. If he can push himself to be a 20+ goal scorer who also records 30+ assists, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to record over 60 points — which is what the Avalanche need from their “untouchable” player.