Nathan MacKinnon 2013 First Round: Where Are They Now?

For Colorado Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon, his NHL rookie season couldn’t have gone much better. He broke records, recorded over 50 points in the regular season, saw post season action and won the Calder Trophy. He’s sitting high and proved that he was more than ready for the NHL.

In a new series here at Frozen Futures we’re going to be looking back at the first round draft class from 2013 and our first stop is with the first overall pick, Nathan MacKinnon.

When and where was he drafted?

With the first overall selection last year, the Colorado Avalanche selected Halifax Mooseheads superstar and 2013 Memorial Cup winner Nathan MacKinnon.

How did his 2013-2014 season go

As previously mentioned, MacKinnon had a phenomenal rookie year with the Avalanche. After a little debate, MacKinnon started the year with the Avalanche and started it on fire. When the dust settled he finished with 24 goals and 63 points which ranked him first in both goals and points for a rookie last season. MacKinnon is the first rookie to record 60 points in their rookie season since Jeff Skinner acomplished the goal with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2010-2011.

All season long MacKinnon showed people just how good he was. While goaltending and coaching was a huge part of the Avalanche turn-around, MacKinnon deserves a lot of credit for the impact he had on the team as a rookie. With him on the team, the Avalanche went from a bottom team to a playoff team.

“He wants to make a difference. He wants to be the guy to score the winning goal. He wants to be the guy to have the puck when it matters. The kid thinks he is 25, he really does.” ~ Kevin Prendergast

Speaking of the playoffs, MacKinnon also found success in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Avalanche. In 7 games he recorded just 2 goals, but added 8 assists for an impressive 10 points in his first taste of playoff hockey at the NHL level. However, his 10 points was impressive for another reason as MacKinnon became just the 3rd player to MacKinnon in NHL history to record seven points in his first two playoff games with a goal and six assists in the first two game of the first round. 

On October 2nd, he became the youngest hockey player to ever dress in a regular season game for the Colorado Avalanche franchise and recorded 2 assists in his debut. Important milestone for MacKinnon, on October the 12th he recorded his first NHL career goal.

He broke 3 NHL records last season, including 2 of which that belonged to the great Wayne Gretzky;

• By recording points in 13 straight games, he set the recorded for longest point streak by an 18 year-old.
• His 7 points in his first 2 playoff games, ties the NHL record held by Odie Cleghorn and Barry Pederson.
• He also became the youngest player to even win the Calder trophy.

Video Highlight

Thoughts On Last Season

It’s hard to put into words or really understand Nathan MacKinnon’s NHL success last season. To think he accomplished a large majority of his feats last season while at the tender age of 18 is incredible. Not often do 18 year-olds have that big of an impact in the NHL, playing against guys 10 years older than them. MacKinnon should be quite proud of his first NHL season, it was truly historic and fun to watch.

He still has some room to grow, but he has a lot of bright potential and should only go up after his rookie year. As long as he keeps working hard night in and night out, his 2nd NHL season should also be pretty impressive. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a top 6 play-making centre in the NHL and when that happens the Avalanche should be sitting pretty.