Assists are a very common thing in the game of hockey. An assist goes to one or two players who touched the puck before the goal scorer. That is, of course, unless one of those players was from the opposing team. Unfortunately, Colorado Avalanche fans know all about that, given that that scenario occurred in a game that would have extended Nathan MacKinnon’s home point streak.
Even if a player, say MacKinnon, shoots the puck at the net, if another Avalanche player touches the puck before it goes in, that final player who touched it would get credit for the goal. Unfortunately, if a player on the opposing team taps the puck into his own team’s net, that’s essentially what the stat goes to: an “own goal.” Therefore, nobody gets an assist.
Shockingly, Nathan MacKinnon went scoreless in 51 of the team’s 82 games last season and still put up 51 goals. He had eight games in which he scored 2-plus goals. But what about assists?
This is something that is pretty neat. MacKinnon, on his way to claiming the Hart and Ted Lindsay trophies, led the team in assists last season.
The top 3 assist leaders on the Colorado Avalanche
1. Nathan MacKinnon - 89
2. Cale Makar - 69
3. Mikko Rantanen - 62
Would you expect anything less from Cale Makar? He is arguably the best defenseman in all of hockey right now, breaking records left and right. He is a player who is extremely difficult to game plan against because of his offensive skills as well as defending.
Makar had the second-most amount of goals of his career last year with 21 and the most amount of assists of his career with 69. Despite having that magical gift of goal scoring, he comes in second on the team in assists. In most seasons, Makar would have brought home the Norris trophy. However, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks had a tremendous year and him winning that trophy was very much deserved.
Mikko Rantanen surpassed 100 points on the season while Makar came up with 90 points. Rantanen had the second-best season of his career last year. He had 42 goals and 62 assists, good for 104 points. The season prior, he came away with 105 points. Back-to-back 100-plus point seasons is nothing to turn your shoulder from. Rantanen is superb alongside MacKinnon on the top line.
Speaking of Rantanen, the 27-year old is entering a contract year, however, the expectation is that he will be getting an extension in the very near future. He definitely deserves it. “The Moose” is a key part of the Avalanche’s offensive attack and we are lucky to have him on the team.
By the end of the 2024-25 season, it would not surprise me if these three players end up being at the top of the assist leaderboard for the team. They are some of the best players on the Colorado Avalanche and are extremely consistent.