Nathan MacKinnon can reach 1,000 career points for the Colorado Avalanche in 2024-25

We all are fully aware that Colorado Avalanche Hart Memorial, Ted Lindsay, Calder Memorial, and Lady Byng trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon is already considered one of the all-time greats, especially as a member of the Avs. MacKinnon can reach another milestone at some point during the 2024-25 NHL season.

MacKinnon, at 912, is 88 points away from reaching 1,000 points for his career. MacKinnon is 29-years-old. He is about to hit 800 regular season NHL games on Sunday, when the Avalanche meet with the Ottawa Senators, who are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division at 4-3 and who are coming off of a loss. Ottawa can certainly put up some points; the Senators have had multiple goals in every game this season except one. If it happens on Sunday, MacKinnon might need to put up a multi-goal game.

Surprisingly, MacKinnon has only put together two 100-point seasons in his 10-year career. Both of those seasons were last year (140) and the year before (111).

I think that one of the feel-good stories throughout last year especially was Jonathan Drouin working his way up to the first line to play alongside MacKinnon. I’m looking for Drouin to follow up his career year from 2023-24 with an even better year with MacKinnon manning the middle of the first line.

Not that MacKinnon necessarily needs all the help in the world, but having Mikko Rantanen on the line is extremely helpful, too. Rantanen is playing on a contract that the Avalanche will need to extend at some point. Helping MacKinnon out in the form of assists would greatly improve his chances of getting more and more money.

MacKinnon is on pace for 133 points for the 2024-25 season. Of course, there will be games in which he does not record a point. That’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. However, as we found out last season, that’s no reason to panic. When MacKinnon has great games, the Avalanche are likely to be extremely competitive. When he doesn’t,

I fully anticipate MacKinnon going on a long point streak like he was able to pull off last season.

The Avalanche have had to deal with quite a few players out of the lineup already this season, with Ross Colton being one of the more recent ones. Colton has found a cozy home on the top line with MacKinnon and I expect him to return there when healthy. He’s having a career year as it is. Both Colton and MacKinnon should continue to complement each other going forward.