Colorado Avalanche Superstar Nathan MacKinnon is a 40-Goal Scorer

The Colorado Avalanche’s superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, has reached the 40-goal mark for the first (hopefully not last) time in his career.

The title says it all — Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon is officially a 40-goal scorer. He recorded a power play tally against the Edmonton Oilers last night.

Last season, MacKinnon went into god mode and recorded career-highs in goals (39), assists (58) and, naturally, overall points (97). That goals total, though… 39. It was the first time he’d recorded a 30+ goal season, but 39 is such a threshold. He just needed that one more…

Well, this season, in Game 80, he got it. Our superstar matched his points total (97) and stepped over that threshold into 40 Goal Land. Said goal also happened to be his 400th career point. He’s the first player from the 2013 draft class to reach the 400-point mark.

MacKinnon is the Colorado Avalanche’s first 40-goal scorer since Milan Hejduk, who last did it in the 2002-03 season. Ouch, 16 years is long time to wait for another 40-goal season from an Avs player.

What’s more, MacKinnon is only the third 40-goal scorer in Colorado Avalanche history. We already know Hejduk is one. Guess who the other is — Joe Sakic or Peter Forsberg. If you guessed Joe, you’re correct. I think it’s a little wild that Foppa never had a 40-goal season, but he topped out at 30.

Ok, we’ve gone far enough without seeing that magical goal:

I mean, I wouldn’t care if it was a greasy tip-in or otherwise ugly goal. However, it’s cool that Goal #40, Point #400 for Nathan MacKinnon was a sweet tally.

This is the MacKinnon we were all hoping for with the Colorado Avalanche’s only first-overall pick. He has his ups and downs just like any player — and he can have an off-game same as anyone — but more often than not, he dominates.

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The first thing most people mention when they talk about Nathan MacKinnon is his speed. However, speed will only get you so far. After all, Nail Yakupov was speedy, too, but it wasn’t enough to make him a star — or even to get him to stay — in the NHL.

No, what I love about MacKinnon’s game is that there’s a grittiness. Altitude color analyst Peter McNabb described his skating as fast, but like a Mack Truck. (Ok, I just got the MacK-Mack reference. 🙄)

Not only that, Nate has hands. Sometimes he works that stick like he’s making chop suey — heavy on the chop — which the puck. On-ice vision, hockey IQ — they’re both phenomenal.

MacKinnon was robbed of the Hart Trophy last season as MVP of the team. This year he’s not even a contender because his linemates, fellow All Stars Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, have also had phenomenal seasons.

However, make no mistake, superstar Nathan MacKinnon is the MVP of the Colorado Avalanche.

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