The Colorado Avalanche continue their strong start to the 2025-26 season, and a big part of their success is because they have Nathan MacKinnon. Everybody talks about how great he is, and they are right. On Thursday, he continued to back up those people by adding to the franchise leaderboards.
Entering Thursday night’s game against the New York Rangers, MacKinnon needed one point to pass Peter Stastny in franchise points. Stastny reached 1,048 as a member of the Quebec Nordiques. MacKinnon tied him earlier in the year. Additionally, MacKinnon needed one assist to tie Stastny in the franchise’s all-time ranks at 668. In the first period of the game against the Rangers on Thursday, he checked off the points section with a goal.
Nathan MacKinnon passes Peter Stastny on the franchise points leaderboard and is now 2nd all time #GoAvsGo
— Avs Stats (@avsstats) November 21, 2025
One of the cool things about MacKinnon’s path is the number of different teammates he’s had. Whether it’s Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Martin Necas, or any other nameworthy players to play alongside No. 29, it feels as if he is able to succeed with almost every teammate who ends up on his line.
MacKinnon won the Hart trophy in 2023-24, and he is on a pace that could reward him with another one. However, there is some competition for the award. Young guys Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard have been discussed as player who could compete for the Hart trophy. In fact, they could fight for it for the rest of MacKinnon’s career. That’s not a bad thing by any means. It is the type of thing that would help drive MacKinnon to being the best player in the league—not as if he needs any more motivation to do so.
The Avalanche, if they continue to play as hot as they have been so far this season, have a chance to be the best Avalanche team in some time. Depth has been decent this year, though the team would benefit from more from the third and fourth lines. MacKinnon is the ultimate scoring machine for the team, and everybody knows that.
The most insane thing about where MacKinnon now ranks in the franchise points and assists categories is that he still has much more hockey to play. He’s only 30 years old. He might be able to play another eight years. If that’s the case, I could see him destroying more franchise records. I also tink that he could remain in his prime for many more years and help the team win another Stanley Cup. That’s the ultimate goal for any hockey player.
MacKinnon’s current contract expires after the 2030-31 season, so that gives him quite a few more years to destroy the stat books. Personally, I would be surprised if he chose to test free agency after his contract expires, but you never know. He’s not close to being on a decline, so the future is extremely bright for him and the Avalanche.