The Avs Are Winnin’ With Nathan MacKinnon

At 18 years old, I was merely a freshman in college. I lived in a dorm and had a roommate for about a month--it didn't work out in the end. Essentially, I enjoyed the average college lifestyle.

Now look at Nathan MacKinnon...who is now 18 years old. He’s playing in the NHL. He’s had roommates such as Jean-Sebastian Giguere, a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe winner; and Jamie McGinn, a 2^nd round draft pick and 20 goal scorer. Need I also mention he's enjoying a 6-figure paycheck (while I barely managed minimum wage at that age)?

The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native, who was picked first overall in last summer’s draft, is well on his way to having one of the best rookie seasons in recent history. When you watch MacKinnon, the first thing you’ll notice is his speed. I don’t know what’s faster: MacKinnon on the ice, or my words per minute on the keyboard. He is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the league.

After getting off to a rather pedantic start to the season for a rookie, MacKinnon has been one of the best players in the NHL since the calendar hit 2014. He has 25 points in 22 games since Jan. 1, which is the third most for the entire league.

Altogether, MacKinnon has 49 points in 61 games, meaning that he has scored half his points in about a third of his games played. But not just any third, the most recent third.

And he has no signs of slowing down.

MacKinnon has 22 goals this season, which currently puts him on pace for 30 by the end of the year. MacKinnon would only be the 10^th rookie in the last decade to score 30 goals in his inaugural season, a feat which is made more impressive by the fact that scoring as a whole is down dramatically from 6.

Adding MacKinnon to a group that includes a 23-year-old Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly;  21-year-old Gabe Landeskog; 22-year-old Tyson Barrie, and a couple of 25-year-old geezers Erik Johnson and goaltender Semyon Varlamov... it’s hard not to get excited about Colorado’s future, and rightfully so.