It’s no surprise that when Nathan MacKinnon is on the ice, the Colorado Avalanche are a better hockey team. That’s because of his incredible ability to make plays when he has control of the puck. He’s continued his success this season, playing in all 57 games that have been played so far, not including the Four Nations Face-Off tournament that has taken place over the past week.
With that in mind, MacKinnon has to be one of the top players in terms of ice time this season, right? You bet. In fact, only defensemen have more ice time than MacKinnon. He ranks 13th overall with, coincidentally, 1,313 minutes played, or roughly 23 minutes per game.
MacKinnon is on pace to secure a Hart trophy in back-to-back seasons. He won it last year while also leading all forwards in ice time.
Surprisingly, the Avalanche have a decent record with MacKinnon out of the lineup: 43-25-5 all-time. However, their record with him is The Colorado Avalanche have a 461-306-81 and nobody would argue that they’re better with him.
The Avalanche have also had to deal with players in and out of the lineup, most notably Valeri Nichushkin. Nichushkin’s absence has forced Jared Bednar to switch things up, and perhaps feeling the need to play MacKinnon a lot more. I’m not saying that he wouldn’t still be the leader in ice time for forwards, but it could be decreased if the Avalanche had a full-healthy lineup.
MacKinnon is 1 of 10 players in the league who have 21 goals on the season, but he leads the league in assists with 66, pushing his total points to 87, which leads the league.
So, in all, this is just a fun reminder that MacKinnon is on pace to lead the league in minutes for a forward, and therefore, increasing his chance of producing epic statistics and earning his second Hart Trophy in his career. It’s yet another goal of his and there’s no question in my mind that he’ll be able to do it. He’ll likely be able to accomplish this several more times in his career, which helps pave the way for him to claim a spot in the Hall of Fame one day.
As long as MacKinnon stays atop the league in minutes played, the Colorado Avalanche have an epic chance of earning their way into the Stanley Cup Final every year. That’s the ultimate goal and prize for any hockey player, especially on the Avalanche. They are a team-first organization, and they prove that every single time they win on home ice.
The Avalanche get back to business at Ball Arena on February 26 against the New Jersey Devils. They play two away games prior to then—in Nashville against the Predators, and St. Louis against the Blues.