As Nathan MacKinnon ascended the youth hockey ranks and rose up NHL draft projections, ESPN the Magazine ran a story titled \u201cNate the kid\u201d \u2014 a nod to both his enormous potential and parallels with fellow Nova Scotian Sidney Crosby, known as \u201cSid the Kid.\u201d It announced to the world that he was coming.<\/p>\n
More than 15 years after that article, MacKinnon isn\u2019t a kid anymore. Now 30 and in his 13th NHL season, he is one of the faces of the league: everything the Colorado Avalanche could have dreamed of when they picked him No. 1 in 2013. He\u2019s a Stanley Cup champion. He\u2019s a Hart Trophy winner. He\u2019s blown past the 1,000-point mark and is nearing 400 goals. If he retired tomorrow, he\u2019d be a first ballot Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n
Yet, somehow, with a resume so complete, he is still ascending.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I\u2019m 30, but I just feel like I\u2019m kind of getting started, to be honest,\u201d he said in a recent interview with The Athletic.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon points to Crosby, his idol growing up, who is also from the Halifax area. The 38-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain, now a friend of MacKinnon, is among the league leaders in goals. Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin is still a standout scorer in his 40s. Neither player is at his peak, but neither has had a precipitous fall-off, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think your hockey prime is a lot longer these days,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cJust stacking good habits over 10 years versus bad habits over 10 years, maybe it\u2019s not so much your age, it\u2019s just doing things badly for a long period of time (that causes decline). \u2026 That\u2019s just going to accumulate no matter how old you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy is quintessential MacKinnon. He\u2019s consumed with maximizing his potential. That\u2019s why he has a personal trainer<\/a> whom he hired to move to Denver and why he\u2019s gained a reputation around the league for his intense \u2014 and at times perhaps excessive \u2014 nutrition and fitness routines. The start to his 2025-26 season<\/a> is the product of his blend of talent, drive and relentless focus. He has a league-leading 58 points, a league-leading 28 goals, and his Avalanche have a league-leading 24-2-7 record. There might not be anyone in the world playing better.<\/p>\n NHL points leaders<\/p>\n PlayerTeamGamesPoints<\/p>\n Avalanche<\/p>\n 33<\/p>\n 58<\/p>\n Oilers<\/p>\n 34<\/p>\n 56<\/p>\n Sharks<\/p>\n 34<\/p>\n 51<\/p>\n Oilers<\/p>\n 34<\/p>\n 47<\/p>\n Avalanche<\/p>\n 33<\/p>\n 45<\/p>\n (Source: NHL.com; stats through Tuesday\u2019s games)<\/p>\n Though MacKinnon is set on extending his prime, he knows time exists. Players get older, and he won\u2019t be able to sustain this forever. The Avalanche have won one Stanley Cup with MacKinnon, but a second isn\u2019t guaranteed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re young, there\u2019s always next year,\u201d he said. \u201cNow there\u2019s a lot on us this year. \u2026 It\u2019s not like we have seven more tries at this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n MacKinnon said making the most of Colorado\u2019s chances this season is \u201call I\u2019m thinking about.\u201d Jared Bednar, who has coached the Avalanche since 2016, sees that manifest through his preparation and consistency. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the start of the offseason or a practice in February, MacKinnon is taking the steps to maintain his superstar level, or maybe even find a way to improve. Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who coached Crosby for a decade in Pittsburgh, said MacKinnon reminds him of his former star.<\/p>\n \u201cPlayers like that, they\u2019re generational talents, but then they add a certain work ethic to their daily process that is admirable,\u201d Sullivan said Dec. 6. \u201cIt\u2019s not by accident that these guys are as great as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n A few hours after Sullivan\u2019s comments, MacKinnon dazzled on the Madison Square Garden ice. He whacked a puck out of midair for a goal in front of the net. Then, in overtime, he toe-dragged around defenseman Will Borgen and backhanded a shot past star goalie Igor Shesterkin. In the wake of the goal, he lowered his right knee to the ice, glided along the boards, punched the air and let out a scream of excitement \u2014 as demonstrative a celebration as you\u2019ll see him make. It was as if he knew he\u2019d just done something barely anyone else in the league could do.<\/p>\n MacKinnon\u2019s performance that day was both dominant and, by his standards, normal. He has more multiple-point games this season (19) than he does games with one or zero points (14). His goal scoring in particular has taken a leap this season. Aided by a career-best 18.1 percent shooting percentage, which could regress as the season goes on, he is on pace for 69 goals. His current career high is 51 from 2023-24, the year he won the Hart Trophy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just off the rush, it\u2019s not just on the power play, not from one spot,\u201d said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, one of MacKinnon\u2019s close friends. \u201cIt\u2019s all over the place. Yeah, he\u2019s got strengths just like anybody else, but when some of those things aren\u2019t working, he\u2019s going to find other ways to score.\u201d<\/p>\n Colorado has yet to find consistent success on its power play, so most of MacKinnon\u2019s production has come at even strength. His underlying numbers are as impressive as his counting stats. He and fellow superstar Cale Makar have been dominant together: Through their first 32 games, the Avalanche led 26-6 when Makar and MacKinnon were on the ice at the same time and had a 59.5 percent expected goal share, according to Evolving-Hockey. Without Makar, MacKinnon\u2019s numbers were only marginally worse. Colorado led 20-6 in those minutes and had a 56 percent expected goal share.<\/p>\n MacKinnon benefits from playing with elite teammates, but he\u2019s often the driver.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Makar said. \u201cHe\u2019s doing such a great job creating chances and finding those areas where the puck keeps finding him.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from the power play, pretty much every part of the Avalanche has seemed formidable. MacKinnon likes the group\u2019s continuity from the end of 2024-25. Lineup regulars Brock Nelson, Mackenzie Blackwood, Scott Wedgewood, Jack Drury and Martin Ne\u010das \u2014 who tried to mold his game after MacKinnon while playing for the Carolina Hurricanes \u2014 were all midseason additions last season. Now, they\u2019ve had a full summer of stability.<\/p>\n The group has added motivation after a devastating series loss to Dallas in the spring. Colorado blew a 2-0 lead in Game 7 when former Avalanche-turned-Stars forward Mikko Rantanen delivered a four-point third period.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes, a tough defeat can kind of bring guys together more,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cEven if it wasn\u2019t good, you still experience a lot of emotion together. I think that can really bond you if it\u2019s used in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avalanche did that after blowing a 2-0 series lead to Vegas in 2021, going on to win the Stanley Cup in 2022. MacKinnon sees some similarities between that response and what the Avalanche are showing now.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully it leads to the same result this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n MacKinnon is part of a group of star forwards all in their late 20s and early 30s. He, Connor McDavid (28), Leon Draisaitl (30) and Auston Matthews (28) \u2014 all of whom have at least one Hart Trophy win \u2014 fit the mold. Since those players emerged, there was a bit of a wait for the next young forward to truly establish himself as a superstar.<\/p>\n That time has appeared to come. The No. 1 picks in 2023 and 2024, Chicago\u2019s Connor Bedard and San Jose\u2019s Macklin Celebrini, respectively, have had elite starts to the season. MacKinnon has loved watching it \u2014 and he loves that they\u2019re both from Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never know, maybe we\u2019ll play together in February,\u201d he said, referring to the 2026 Olympics. \u201cIt\u2019s motivating, inspiring that they\u2019re that good at that young of an age because I was nowhere near that.\u201d<\/p>\n The respect, unsurprisingly, is mutual.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems like he gets faster every year somehow,\u201d said Bedard, whose Olympic roster spot is up in the air after a recent injury. \u201cEvery part of his game kind of seems to keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not by accident. MacKinnon\u2019s stick selection is a perfect microcosm of his general approach. Over the summer, he experimented with different brands before returning to his trusty Bauer model, which he\u2019s used every game this season. If there\u2019s a possible edge, he\u2019s going to be looking for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a hard time keeping the same thing,\u201d he said. \u201cI always think there could be something better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Nathan MacKinnon ascended the youth hockey ranks and rose up NHL draft projections, ESPN the Magazine ran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,7522,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-354116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}