Nathan MacKinnon is leading the Colorado Avalanche during their 22-2-7 season. He has just passed Joe Sakic for most goals in Avalanche history (Nordiques not included), and he’ll only continue to build on that stat for the rest of his Avalanche career.
Along with his 25 goals on the season, he has 28 assists. He’ll be able to build on those numbers with 51 games remaining on the season. Another big statistic that carries a lot of weight for NHL players is their plus-minus ratio. For his career, he has a plus-minus ratio of plus-209. That currently ranks 66th overall. It also comes up two points short of Hall of Famer Mark Messier (plus-211). It also ranks third among all active players, with Devon Toews right behind MacKinnon with a plus-206.
MacKinnon’s assist distribution is split down the middle. He has 14 primary assists and 14 secondary assists on the year. He’s involved in so many scoring chances, it’s insane. Those numbers will continue to grow on his way to bringing home another Hart trophy, if all things go as planned.
The all-time best plus-minus ratio for a single season was set in 1970-71 by Bobby Orr, who had a plus-124 season. He had 37 goals and 102 assists.
The pace in which Nathan MacKinnon is on for the Colorado Avalanche in 2025-26
If MacKinnon continues at the pace that he’s at, he’ll finish the 2025-26 season with a plus-minus of plus-97.8, so basically plus-98. If he reaches that milestone, it not only would blow his current career-best of plus-35 (not counting his current ratio of plus-37 as the season isn’t close to done yet), but it would put him among the best in league history.
The top plus-minus ratios in NHL history are Orr (124), Larry Robinson (120), Wayne Gretzky (100), and Dallas Smith (98). So, that would mean MacKinnon’s plus-97/98 would be the fifth-best all-time in NHL history.
As long as the Colorado Avalanche remain on their current hot streak throughout the 2025-26 season, there’s virtually no way that MacKinnon does not get to that exceptional rating by season’s end. He’s the best offensive player on the team and even the best player offensively across the entire league, though I know some will argue that title belongs to Connor McDavid. MacKinnon has a big opportunity to show that he’s the one that belongs atop the rankings. Adding to his plus-minus ratios would only build his case as the best player in the league.
The line combination of Artturi Lehkonen, MacKinnon, and Martin Necas has accounted for 51 goals this season. On the season, the Avalanche as a team has combined for 124 goals for and 72 goals allowed, which equals a plus-minus ratio of plus-52. If MacKinnon is destined for a plus-minus ratio somewhere around plus-97, I don’t see any possible way that the Avalanche aren’t breaking many other records throughout the year. It would be the greatest season Avs Faithful has seen in a long time, or maybe ever. Heck, even during the team’s strong start to the season, they came up short of the franchise record of wins in a row, but still outperformed that previous regime.
The Avs are considered by many to be the 2025-26 Stanley Cup favourites, and it is clear why. Nathan MacKinnon is from another world, it seems, and the team will go far as long as he continues to be as dominant as he has been thus far.