MacKinnon dominance with Avalanche earning rave reviews from teammates, opponents

TORONTO -- Nathan MacKinnon is dropping jaws and eliciting fear across the NHL.

"I marvel," Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said.

"He makes the game look easy," Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov said.

"But it's not," added Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.

From Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid: "A special player."

And Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness: "Worth the price of admission."

"Carrying our team," according to Colorado Avalanche teammate Cale Makar.

Maybe Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger put it best:

"Terrifying."

None of it is hyperbole about MacKinnon, the Avalanche center who is tied for first in the NHL with 85 points (32 goals, 53 assists) entering Colorado's game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+).

MacKinnon has 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) during a 14-game point streak. He also has at least one point in 39 of 42 games since Nov. 1, with 78 points (28 goals, 50 assists) during that span, including 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) during a 19-game point streak from Nov. 20-Dec. 27.

For the season, he has more games with at least three points (10) than he has games with zero (seven).

"I think last year and this year, the two best years," MacKinnon said. "Always trying to get better, I think that's the goal, not so much the outcome. The grind every day of doing different things and trying to get better every day is what I really enjoy about being able to do what I do. It's not so much the points, it's the pursuit of trying to improve."

MacKinnon had 111 points (42 goals, 69 assists) in 71 games last season. He was fifth in the NHL in points and third in points per game (1.56).

"I've said before at different times," Crosby said. "Like when you see him elevate his game in the playoffs. You just don't think he can find another level, and he somehow does. That's what great players do."

One reason he might be better this season is because the game feels slow to him even though he hasn't slowed down.

"Just seeing things well out there right now," MacKinnon said. "Plays, they're developing a little slower in a good way, I guess. It's a fast game, so when you can see things as they come and try to make the best decision I can, that's what Kucherov does every time. I'm always trying to work on playmaking, vision, things like that.

"You want your legs moving fast but your brain to slow down a little bit. That's the idea, not to get too excited and flustered out there. Right now it's been pretty good."

McDavid knows the feeling, and he knows when he sees it happening for someone else.

"It's the best feeling ever when you're moving at a great clip and the game still feels slow," he said. "That's when you're at your absolute best. Obviously he's found a rhythm in his game. He's feeling good about himself, as he should. He's playing great hockey."

Makar said this season is the best and most consistent version of MacKinnon he has seen since they became teammates during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Once he hits the ice he's just a completely different human," Makar said. "He's able to flip that switch and the second the puck drops he's in a different universe. That's what makes him so special right now. The game is just flowing for him."

He called MacKinnon "the best player in the world right now."

"But it's weird because in my mind I still feel he has another gear," Makar said. "That's the crazy part."

It sounded crazy last season when there were similar opinions about MacKinnon.

Maybe it's not so crazy.

"I see firsthand in the summers, how hard he works and what it means to him," said Crosby, who trains with MacKinnon throughout the offseason. "He knows his body well. He works hard. He knows when he has to put the work in. He takes care of himself. Every year he's learning more and more. He doesn't rest on the fact that he had a good season prior. You just see that drive year after year. It's the consistency of that. It's experience and he's using that to his advantage."

That's what MacKinnon plans to do the next few months.

He won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022 and followed it by losing in the Western Conference First Round last season. It was a grind of a series against the Seattle Kraken that ended in a 2-1 loss in Game 7, when MacKinnon had an assist, nine shots on goal and 15 shot attempts.

It crushed MacKinnon.

"Before you win your first Cup you're always thinking, 'Will I ever get one?'" he said. "It's definitely a lot of fear. You really want it. Now that you know you can win one you want to win more. Once you have the taste of that feeling you definitely want it again."

MacKinnon is the biggest reason why the Avalanche have a chance to do it again.

"One of the teams in the West is going to have to figure it out, how do you stop that guy?" Tocchet said. "We've got a couple of months to figure it out I guess."

Good luck.

"He's on a different planet right now," Oettinger said.