Talent can only take you so far.
While Nathan MacKinnon has had an incredible level of innate ability his entire life, his relentless work ethic and drive to be the best was what helped him reach the 1,000-point milestone on Monday.
At 31 seconds of the third period of a 0-0 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, MacKinnon recorded the secondary assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s goal, a deflection on Devon Toews’ right-point wrist, to pick up his 1,000th point.
After the game, MacKinnon talked more about the accomplishment being done with his teammates, rather than the milestone itself.
“It’s cool,” MacKinnon said. "It's fun to accomplish something with friends and teammates."
It was no surprise to Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar that MacKinnon downplayed his accomplishment that saw him join Joe Sakic and Peter Stastny as the only players in franchise history to reach 1,000 points.
“That's what I love about Nate, that’s why he downplays all this,” Bednar said after the game on Monday. “Because I think a lot of it deep down he really doesn’t care, he just wants to win, and that’s what drives him, and I think that’s the way to be. Because it’s not about him, it’s about our team and so deep down, that’s the type of leader he is and he drives the standard.”
The standard that he’s set for himself doesn’t go unnoticed in the Avs’ locker room or around the league. Specifically, it garnered the attention and admiration of MacKinnon’s childhood idol and close friend, Sidney Crosby.
“I think anytime you see guys up close and how hard they work and how much they put into it, you want to see them get rewarded,” Crosby said before the Avalanche’s March 4th clash with the Pittsburgh Penguins. “And he’s somebody that’s continued to want to get better every single year, and he cares a lot. And it’s good for him to be rewarded. I mean, he’s produced at a pretty incredible pace here the last number of years.”
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, MacKinnon has posted 793 points (287g/506a) in 555 games played. That’s 1.43 points per game, which is the third-best mark in the league during that span. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, he’s recorded 353 points (120g/223a) in 218 contests, which is 1.62 points per game. That mark is second in the NHL during that span.
He’s currently in the midst of his third-consecutive 100-point season as the reigning Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner. But despite all the personal accolades and hardware he’s received, nothing is more important to MacKinnon than winning the Stanley Cup, which he did in 2022.
As impressive as this milestone is, MacKinnon is singularly focused on winning his second Stanley Cup.
“Over the years, he expects more and more from our team, from our coaches, from our management, from everybody involved because he’s giving it everything he has,” Bednar said. “And I think that’s how you win championships. The more guys you have that have that outlook, the better chance you’re going to have to win.”
Brock Nelson, whom the Avalanche acquired via trade on Thursday, knew MacKinnon before the deal and was familiar with his legendary work ethic.
“I think you see that now first-hand even though it’s been 2-3 days,” Nelson said before Monday’s game. “You can see how hard he pushes himself to be the best and wants to be the best to help the team win.”
Fellow Avs newcomer Charlie Coyle called MacKinnon reaching the milestone “remarkable” when speaking pregame on Monday. Coyle, like Nelson, already sees MacKinnon’s desire to improve.
“You can just tell how focused and the intensity that he brings, the way he works and the time he puts in,” Coyle said. “Even the little practice that I was just in right now, he’s always working on something. And I think that what a lot of people don’t understand or don’t realize with those guys is it’s not just given talent that they’ve had, they work on their game harder and more than anyone else and that’s why they keep improving their play and it looks like he’s no different.”
It took MacKinnon 856 games to reach the milestone and he became the 16th player in league history to do so before turning 30.
“It’s very cool to get 1,000 points in any 20-year career, 18-year career,” Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin said during Monday’s pregame media. “But to do it at 29, that early, it’s a hell of an accomplishment.
“He’s a special player and he’s proven it. It’s cool to see, growing up with him and playing hockey at 8-9 years old to junior hockey. So it’s cool to see to be kind of a part of that. He deserves it. Puts a lot of work in. To do that at 29 years old is impressive.”
