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Nathan MacKinnon

#29 · Centre · Colorado Avalanche

Born Sep 1, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, CAN (age 31) · 6'0", 200 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 1st overall in 2013 by COL (round 1)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2021-22
Hart Memorial Trophy MVP of Regular Season 2023-24
Ted Lindsay Award Most Outstanding Player as Voted by the NHLPA 2023-24
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Sportsmanship and Gentlemanly Conduct 2019-20

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Auston Matthews TOR · 66 P in 52 GP Mikko Rantanen COL · 66 P in 52 GP Patrick Kane CHI · 66 P in 56 GP Mitch Marner TOR · 67 P in 55 GP Mark Scheifele WPG · 63 P in 56 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0501002013-14: 63 points6313-142014-15: 38 points3814-152015-16: 52 points5215-162016-17: 53 points5316-172017-18: 97 points9717-182018-19: 99 points9918-192019-20: 93 points9319-202020-21: 65 points6520-212021-22: 88 points8821-222022-23: 111 points11122-232023-24: 140 points14023-242024-25: 116 points11624-252025-26: 127 points12725-262026-27: 10 points1026-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2013-14 COL 82 24 39 63 20 26 241 57 0.77 $925K
2014-15 COL 64 14 24 38 -7 34 192 43 0.59 $925K
2015-16 COL 72 21 31 52 -4 20 245 46 0.72 $925K
2016-17 COL 82 16 37 53 -14 16 251 56 0.65 $6.3M
2017-18 COL 74 39 58 97 11 55 284 38 1.31 $6.3M
2018-19 COL 82 41 58 99 20 34 365 54 1.21 $6.3M
2019-20 COL 69 35 58 93 13 12 318 51 1.35 $6.3M
2020-21 COL 48 20 45 65 22 37 206 38 1.35 $6.3M
2021-22 COL 65 32 56 88 22 42 299 68 1.35 $6.3M
2022-23 COL 71 42 69 111 29 30 366 53 1.56 $6.3M
2023-24 COL 82 51 89 140 35 42 405 55 1.71 $12.6M
2024-25 COL 79 32 84 116 25 41 320 38 1.47 $12.6M
2025-26 COL 80 53 74 127 57 39 350 64 1.59 $12.6M
2026-27 COL 5 5 5 10 1 7 23 2 2.00 $12.604M
14 seasons Career 955 425 727 1152 230 435 3865 663 1.21

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2013-14 COL 7 2 8 10 2 4 18 1 1.43
2017-18 COL 6 3 3 6 -2 4 28 4 1.00
2018-19 COL 12 6 7 13 -4 2 57 15 1.08
2019-20 COL 12 8 14 22 11 8 50 13 1.83
2020-21 COL 10 8 7 15 6 2 38 15 1.50
2021-22 COL 20 13 11 24 11 8 117 28 1.20
2022-23 COL 7 3 4 7 8 4 40 9 1.00
2023-24 COL 11 4 10 14 -1 4 46 8 1.27
2024-25 COL 7 7 4 11 5 2 39 12 1.57
2025-26 COL 13 7 8 15 5 6 47 11 1.15
10 seasons Playoffs 105 61 76 137 41 44 480 116 1.30

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
48 20 45 65 22 37 206 38 1.35 9.7 20:22

Contract

$6.3MCap hitends in 2023, then UFA
$97KCap dollars per point65 points in 48 games
$423KCap dollars per goal above replacement14.9 goals above replacement
$15.8MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$9.5MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 633 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Colorado Avalanche on Jul 8, 2016, as a new contract: 7 years and $44.1M, beginning in 2016-17. It runs through 2022-23, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2016-17 $6.3M $5M $0 $5M
2017-18 $6.3M $5.75M $0 $5.75M
2018-19 $6.3M $6.75M $0 $6.75M
2019-20 $6.3M $6.75M $0 $6.75M
2020-21 $6.3M $6.15M $0 $6.15M M-NTC
2021-22 $6.3M $6.85M $0 $6.85M M-NTC
2022-23 $6.3M $6.85M $0 $6.85M NMC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Sep 20, 2022 Colorado Avalanche Extension 2023-24 to 2030-31 8 $100.82M $12.6M
Jul 8, 2016 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2016-17 to 2022-23 7 $44.1M $6.3M
Jul 9, 2013 Colorado Avalanche Entry-level 2013-14 to 2015-16 3 $11.325M $925K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+2.9Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.5Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+2.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.8Even-strength defence-0.2Power play+0.7Penalty kill+0.0Penalties+1.0

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

01020302013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

55.4Corsi for %185 attempts for, 149 against
+6.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
47.5Expected goals for %6.4 expected for, 7.0 against
-2.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.6Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
71.4Goals for %10 for, 4 against
107.2PDO12.0% shooting + 95.2% saves
49Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 147 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Gabriel Landeskog · Nathan MacKinnon · Mikko Rantanen10111:1252.845.56-3
Brandon Saad · Nathan MacKinnon · Mikko Rantanen327:2563.853.12-0
Andre Burakovsky · Nathan MacKinnon · Mikko Rantanen710:0854.540.20-1
Joonas Donskoi · Andre Burakovsky · Nathan MacKinnon21:3350.00.00-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

5Goalsnot counting empty-netters
3.4Expected goalsfrom 44 unblocked attempts
+1.6Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.98 expected goals per 60 minutes77th
Shot quality 7.7% chance per attempt29th
Finishing +1.6 goals above expected86thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 78 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

012345Goals 5Expected 3.4

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took in these playoffs, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
May 10, 2021 @ VGK W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 20:32
May 5, 2021 @ SJS L 2-3 0 0 0 -2 2 2 1 20:28
May 3, 2021 @ SJS W 5-4 (OT) 0 2 2 0 0 9 1 24:18
May 1, 2021 vs SJS W 4-3 1 1 2 2 0 9 0 22:40
Apr 30, 2021 vs SJS W 3-0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 15:23
Apr 28, 2021 @ VGK L 2-5 0 1 1 -1 0 6 0 23:38
Apr 26, 2021 @ STL L 1-4 1 0 1 -3 0 6 0 20:40
Apr 24, 2021 @ STL L 3-5 1 2 3 -2 0 3 1 19:56
Apr 22, 2021 @ STL W 4-2 0 3 3 2 0 5 1 19:41
Apr 14, 2021 @ STL W 4-3 0 1 1 1 0 6 2 21:24
Apr 12, 2021 vs ARI W 4-2 1 1 2 2 0 1 2 20:15
Apr 11, 2021 @ ANA W 4-1 1 1 2 1 0 7 2 20:59
Apr 9, 2021 @ ANA W 2-0 0 1 1 1 0 6 0 21:24
Apr 7, 2021 @ MIN L 3-8 1 1 2 -2 4 3 0 20:47
Apr 5, 2021 @ MIN W 5-4 1 1 2 2 0 2 0 19:07
Apr 3, 2021 vs STL W 2-1 1 0 1 2 0 5 0 21:05
Apr 2, 2021 vs STL W 3-2 2 0 2 1 0 7 0 19:15
Mar 31, 2021 vs ARI W 9-3 0 2 2 1 14 2 2 16:14
Mar 29, 2021 vs ANA W 5-2 0 2 2 0 0 7 0 20:22
Mar 27, 2021 vs VGK L 2-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 22:39
Mar 25, 2021 vs VGK W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 18:26
Mar 23, 2021 @ ARI L 4-5 (SO) 1 2 3 0 4 8 4 22:37
Mar 22, 2021 @ ARI W 5-1 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 19:07
Mar 20, 2021 vs MIN W 6-0 0 3 3 3 0 1 4 16:09
Mar 18, 2021 vs MIN W 5-1 1 2 3 3 2 4 0 16:25
Mar 16, 2021 vs ANA W 8-4 1 0 1 1 0 5 2 20:19
Mar 14, 2021 vs LAK W 4-1 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 16:55
Mar 12, 2021 vs LAK W 2-0 1 0 1 2 0 3 1 19:21
Mar 10, 2021 vs ARI W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 24:44
Mar 3, 2021 @ SJS W 4-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 18:05
Mar 1, 2021 @ SJS L 2-6 0 1 1 -1 0 6 0 22:28
Feb 27, 2021 @ ARI W 6-2 1 0 1 1 0 7 0 19:59
Feb 26, 2021 @ ARI W 3-2 0 1 1 -1 0 3 1 24:02
Feb 24, 2021 vs MIN L 2-6 0 0 0 -2 0 3 0 22:03
Feb 22, 2021 vs VGK L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 18:21
Feb 20, 2021 vs VGK W 3-2 1 2 3 2 0 5 0 20:49
Feb 16, 2021 @ VGK W 3-2 1 0 1 1 0 4 0 21:24
Feb 14, 2021 @ VGK L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 22:34
Jan 31, 2021 @ MIN L 3-4 (OT) 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 15:24
Jan 30, 2021 @ MIN W 5-1 0 2 2 1 2 4 1 22:24
Jan 28, 2021 vs SJS W 3-0 0 1 1 0 0 6 0 21:44
Jan 26, 2021 vs SJS W 7-3 0 1 1 2 0 6 0 16:39
Jan 24, 2021 @ ANA L 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 22:52
Jan 22, 2021 @ ANA W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 22:19
Jan 21, 2021 @ LAK L 2-4 1 1 2 -1 0 5 1 23:09
Jan 19, 2021 @ LAK W 3-2 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 23:10
Jan 15, 2021 vs STL W 8-0 1 2 3 2 0 5 1 15:49
Jan 13, 2021 vs STL L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 19:24