The Colorado Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon are atop the Central Division and Western Conference through 36 games into the 2025-26 season. They are five points ahead of the Dallas Stars and 11 points ahead of the Wild. A team that is much further behind the Avalanche is the Edmonton Oilers, who have 44.
While the Oilers are in a different division, that doesn’t matter in terms of the Western Conference standings. The two divisions are grouped together in terms of playoff seedings.
When it comes to Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, both lead their team in goals and overall points, while Cale Makar is the Avs’ current leader in assists. The battle between MacKinnon and McDavid continues to be a hot topic. The competition is elite. Some will say that MacKinnon is the better overall player, while some will argue the case that McDavid is.
Both players are two of the best in the world. What matters in the end is where they lead their team at the end of the season. MacKinnon is having a superb season, as he’s on pace for 139 points, while McDavid is on pace for 144 points.
It doesn’t matter.
The Avalanche as a team have been red hot in the 2025 calendar year. They have three games remaining before we switch to our 2026 calendars. As long as the Avalanche continue to win, it should be evident that MacKinnon is the better player who is leading his respective team to greater heights. In the end, that is what truly matters.
You talk about players who are affected by the teammates around him and if you’ve noticed, it doesn’t matter who is alongside MacKinnon on the top line. Gabriel Landeskog, Martin Necas, Brock Nelson, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen. All of those players have done well when on MacKinnon’s line. He just makes everybody better.
You can’t realistically have just one line scoring all of your goals. It is absolutely crucial to have some depth scoring. While it would be ideal for the Avalanche to have better depth scoring, what is happening in Colorado has to be noticed. They are winning games left and right. Sometimes, it won’t be pretty. You’ll have those 1-0 games. You’ll also have games where you might score 3-4-5 goals. The beauty of the NHL is that it is unpredictable, to a certain degree.
Connor McDavid can finish the regular season with more point than Nathan MacKinnon. But what will matter most is when they get to the playoffs. Who comes out on top? Who has the better track record? I would put all of my chips on the table for the Colorado Avalanche with their superstar center.