The NHL and NHLHistory accounts shared this post with fans last week detailing the all-time franchise leaders for the Colorado Avalanche. Not to any surprise, the rankings were filled with Avalanche legends like Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Michel Goulet and other well-known names.
Amongst them was only one current Avalanche player, and again to no one's surprise, it's none other than Nathan MacKinnon.
Of the five leaderboards relevant to forwards, MacKinnon found himself a spot on four and has a pretty big influence on the fifth one.
All-time leaders in games played
MacKinnon ranks fourth on this leaderboard with 870 games played, only 97 games behind Adam Foote. MacKinnon has the potential to really shorten that gap this season if he manages to play a full 82 games.
In his 12 seasons with Colorado, MacKinnon has only played all 82 games four times, the most recent being the 2023-2024 season. Last season he only missed out on three games, totaling 79 times he suited up in the burgundy and blue.
All-time leaders in goals
Coming in at fifth, MacKinnon lands just below Milan Hejduk in goals scored with a whopping 367 in 12 seasons. Shy by just eight goals, MacKinnon will undoubtedly breeze by Hejduk this season as well as Peter Stastny, who sits in third with 380 goals. MacKinnon has totaled enough goals every year of his career so far to lift himself above both Hejduk and Stastny, and narrow the gap to Michel Goulet, who sits second all-time with 456.
He's got quite a big gap between him and first place, where Sakic currently sits with 625 but keep in mind the former captain spent 20 years in the NHL. While it may not happen anytime soon, there's still enough time for MacKinnon to make his way up there with the likes of Sakic.
All-time leaders in points
MacKinnon sits in third place for points scored with 1,015 under his belt. He falls just below Stastny (1,048) and Sakic (1,641), though he'll likely overtake the former this season, needing only 33 points to tie for second place. Again, MacKinnon has consistently scored above 33 points every season of his career so far and it doesn't look like he'll be stopping anytime soon. It'll take him a little more time to catch up to Super Joe at the top, who's got a 600+ point lead on MacKinnon.
All-time leaders in points in a season
At the top of this leaderboard sits MacKinnon, who earned a total of 140 points in the 2023-24 season, lifting him above Stastny, who held the record for his 139 point season in the 1981-82 season, back when the team was still playing in Quebec City as the Nordiques.
The past three years, MacKinnon has had 100+-point seasons, and while he fell short of his career high last season, Avs fans can expect another high point year for MacK heading into the fall. There's no guarantee he'll catch or surpass his 140-point high, but he can earn himself another spot on the list if he reaches 122, tying him with Stastny's 1985-86 season and Goulet's 1983-84 season.
All-time leaders in goals in a season
The one leaderboard for forwards that MacKinnon didn't find himself on is the goals scored in a season. In fact, no current Avalanche player is amongst the names listed here, but there is a familiar face in Mikko Rantanen. The now Dallas Star winger sits in fourth on this list for his 55 goals scored in the 2022-23 season. Of those 55 goals, though, MacKinnon found himself an assist on 20 of them.
That same season, MacKinnon broke his first 100-point season, coming in with 111 total. This isn't to say that Rantanen hasn't earned his spot here or that MacKinnon should take credit for this record, but it's important to note how MacKinnon and Rantanen worked together. This will be the first full season we'll see Mack without his former linemate and Avs fan will get a bigger idea of how he produces without Rantanen after spending nine years playing together.
There's no reason to expect MacKinnon's total points drop without Rantanen, but it'll be interesting to see if there's a switch up in how many goals he averages this season compared to points with the change in linemates. Martin Necas has taken over as MacKinnon's wing and the two seem to gel well enough for MacKinnon to continue taking up space on the franchise leaderboards.