MacKinnon poised for a season that could redefine his legacy
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports
There is no doubt Nathan MacKinnon is one of the best players to ever play in the NHL, but as good as his career has been, there is reason to believe this will be his most dominating yet.
MacKinnon has all the tools needed to have his best season to date, and that is saying a lot compared to previous seasons.
Nathan MacKinnon ready for best season yet with the Colorado Avalanche.
Katie Barlett of Mile High Sticking highlighted the opportunities ahead for MacKinnon this season. With the lineup seemingly clicking, he has a chance for a huge year, starting with improved faceoff numbers.
"MacKinnon has never been known for his prowess in the faceoff dot. In not one season of his NHL career has he achieved over a 50% win percentage. Last season, he ended with the second-best faceoff percentage of his career at 48.77%. However, with the arrival of faceoff «master» Jack Drury, MacKinnon's faceoff percentage was 52.99%. Only Drury had a better win rate of players that took more than 20 faceoffs over those games." -Barlett
Additionally, MacKinnon will spend a full season alongside Martin Necas and Artturi Lehkonen, who were last year's most effective 5v5 trio when playing together.
"To no one's surprise, any line that Nathan MacKinnon was centering dominated possession at 5v5. Of the five line combinations that he played with for more than 100 minutes, the most successful was Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Necas, a line that had the best possession numbers to go with 13 goals for and only four goals against." -Barlett
A full season with these three will be a treat to watch, and MacKinnon has more opportunity than ever to put up some big numbers.
Necas' style of play will give MacKinnon more shooting opportunities. Last season, he often passed to Rantanen instead of taking the shot himself, but now he has a playmaker setting him up.
"Of his 32 goals, only 15 of them came at 5v5. MacKinnon ended the season with 225 shots on goal, the third-highest total of his career. But a shooting percentage of a mere 6.67% - his worst since the 2020-21 season - hamstrung his ability to put the puck in the net as consistently as he did in other recent seasons." -Barlett
An athlete's prime is typically considered to be between 25 and 31 years old, and Nathan MacKinnon is approaching the latter part of this window.
While he shows no signs of slowing, he needs to maximize his opportunities during this peak period to further cement his legacy.
Source:
Mile High Sticking
Stat Stories: What Nathan MacKinnon's stats last year suggest for the upcoming season
Mile High Sticking
Stat Stories: What Nathan MacKinnon's stats last year suggest for the upcoming season
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 25 | 14 ANSWERS MacKinnon poised for a season that could redefine his legacy Will Nathan MacKinnon record more than 120 points this NHL season for the Colorado Avalanche? | ||
| yes | 10 | 71.4 % |
| no | 4 | 28.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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