The Colorado Avalanche and superstar Nathan MacKinnon went into Los Angeles with one goal in mind: To defeat the Kings. They accomplished that by scoring four goals and allowing just one. In the process, MacKinnon once again (surprise, surprise) climbed leaderboards.
The Avalanche moved to Colorado from Quebec (as the Nordiques) in 1995, and in that timeframe, MacKinnon (who was the first overall pick in 2013) reached the number one spot in points all-time in Avalanche history. At first, I admit, I was confused because if you didn’t know, Joe Sakic has the most points in franchise history. The biggest difference here is that he spent seven years in Quebec with the old franchise. Therefore, the stats Sakic had accumulated in that time do not count.
Let’s take a dive into the specifics between Sakic and MacKinnon in Colorado Avalanche history…
Sakic spent 13 years with the Avalanche (post-move to Colorado). MacKinnon has now officially entered his 13th season with the club. He finished with 1,015 points in Colorado in 870 games, but 1,641 points altogether. Comparitively, MacKinnon just played his 871st career game in Colorado, and now leads the Avalanche in points all-time with 1,017, consisting of 367 goals and 650 assists.
Nathan MacKinnon can finish as the best Colorado Avalanche player of all-time
The cool thing in my opinion is that, while MacKinnon has gotten to play with the likes of one of the best defensemen in the NHL (Cale Makar, who is going to get an amazing contract extension soon) and has a solid supporting cast around him, that supporting cast isn’t on the same level as, say, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, and Patrick Roy. Perhaps that could give MacKinnon an edge in the best-of-all-time debate. Of course, I’m not discounting anything that Sakic accomplished in his career as that would be foolish.
We even witnessed a period of time in which Mikko Rantanen played for the Carolina Hurricanes and then the Dallas Stars last season and it was evident that MacKinnon was a huge part in the success of his former teammate.
Now, last night when finding out the record MacKinnon broke, reality hit me with the fact that MacKinnon is 30 years old now and has been with the team for what will be his 13th season. Before we know it, he’s going to be reaching Sidney Crosby’s current age of 38. By then, we’ll be counting down the wait time for #29 to enter the Pro Hockey Hall of Fame—which you are allowed to be nominated for once you have been out of the NHL for three seasons.
Like Makar, there’s no doubt in Avalanche fans’ minds that MacKinnon should already be considered a Hall of Fame player. He’s done wonders for the Avalanche as well as the NHL in general. He is a well-respected individual who brings his best every single year. When he’s done playing, he’ll be among the greatest to ever play the game of hockey in the biggest hockey league in the world.