Mackinnon as hot as ever, but his line needs help
However we try to slice it up, this recent run of form from Nathan Mackinnon is as statistically dominant as he’s ever been in a Colorado Avalanche uniform.
Mackinnon entered Saturday night’s game against the Coyotes in the midst of a career- best 17- game point streak, which was also three back of tying the best mark in franchise history since moving to Denver.
Avs coach Jared Bednar sidestepped a question late Thursday night about whether Mackinnon is the best hockey player in the world right now after he had four goals and an assist in a dramatic 6- 4 victory against Ottawa. He had a similar response when asked if this was the best Mackinnon has ever played after he had four points in a win a week ago against San Jose.
Mikko Rantanen was less hesitant to address the idea.
“I think the best, probably,” Mikko Rantanen said when asked where this recent run ranks for Mackinnon. “The way he’s playing and skating and making plays, being hard to play against and defending hard. He plays a 200- foot game now and it’s fun to watch. I try to play with him, and keep up with his speed.”
Mackinnon tallied 33 points in the 17 contests preceding Saturday night, which is his best stretch over any block of 17 regularseason games in his career. The only player with more for the Avalanche is Peter Forsberg.
Want to expand it a little? He had 44 points in the past 23 games since a “slow” start by his standards. That is also his best 23- game stretch and also only bettered by Forsberg.
It’s the same story if we reduce the scope to his past nine games ( 22 points, including seven multipoint efforts) and zoom way in for three- game bursts ( 10 points). Both match his best stretch, and the only player to have a better one for Colorado is Forsberg.
Mackinnon downplayed his four- goal night against the Senators — the first by anyone for the franchise since moving to Denver — and noted he’s had better games where the puck just didn’t go in. He appreciated the point streak a little more, anyway.
“It’s a hard thing to do,” Mackinnon said of 17 straight with at least one point. “I’m just trying to be consistent like I always say. I didn’t have a very good night ( Tuesday) in Chicago, but I got a second apple ( assist). It wasn’t like I played great.”
Mackinnon, Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin have formed one of the best lines in the league of late, but the Avs also look like a one- line team at times. Bednar is not afraid to lean on them.
Nichushkin logged 29: 05 against the Senators, which is the most by any forward in a
60- minute game this season. Mackinnon had the most in one game that went beyond regulation earlier this month in Anaheim at 29: 35. He and Rantanen are tied for the highest ice time per game among forwards this season ( 22: 38), while Nichushkin is sixth.
It’s a near- omnipresent debate for most NHL teams: Is it better to load up one line, or spread the best players out?
“It’s simple math, for the most part,” Bednar said Friday. “We’ve moved them apart. We’ve tried other guys in there. It’s having the depth to be able to support two lines instead of one that can produce. If I took Mikko off it, who do I put in and how does he produce? Can he drive a line, but who is it with and what does that look like?
“I feel like right now they need to be together, because they are playing extremely well together and they’re winning us some hockey games. It’s gut feeling. It’s math. It’s looking at the analytics and the other lines we’ve put together and what they’re able to do. I think even if we’re not producing on the other lines, as long as we’re solid defensively our top line might be able to win us hockey games. We have to make sure we’re locking it down on the defensive side.
All of our offensive metrics look really good — it’s the defensive ones that have dropped.”
One development that should help is the return of Artturi Lehkonen. He is clearly the team’s fourth- best forward, and would allow Bednar to play two of his top four on each of the top two lines.
Lehkonen skated with the team during an optional practice Friday, the first time he’s advanced past skating on his own. He’s been out for six weeks with a neck injury after a scary collision with the endboards. Bednar said it was a 10- to- 12week prognosis, and Lehkonen is making good progress.
“He helps a lot,” Bednar said. “Then you can put guys together that have been together, and it changes the top three lines at a minimum.”
Whether or not this is the best Mackinnon has ever played in the NHL, the Avs have certainly needed it. The club’s overall form has been inconsistent, but Mackinnon and his linemates are carrying the Avs to much- needed points in the standings and placing him squarely in the mix for league MVP honors.