Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon sets franchise single-season points record with 140th point

MacKinnon achieved the feat during the Avs’ final game of the season on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers. He entered the game needing one point to tie the record and two to break it and he did so in quick fashion. With the Avs already up 1-0 just over five minutes into the game, MacKinnon sent the puck to Devon Toews at the point, who then went across the zone to Mikko Rantanen for the one-timer goal to make it 2-0 and get MacKinnon tied for the record. It took only two minutes after that for him to break the record, as he fed a slap pass to Valeri Nichushkin on the power play to make it 3-0 and give the Halifax, Nova Scotia product his 140th point, breaking the record.

MacKinnon breaks a franchise record previously held by Peter Stastny with the Quebec Nordiques, who had 46 goals and 93 assists for 139 points in 80 games in 1981-82. MacKinnon is the only player in the salary cap era of the Avs’ franchise to be in the top 10 in single-season points, and unless he gets six goals or six assists in Thursday’s game, he will not reach the franchise record in either of those stats. It also easily surpasses any season put up by a player since moving to Colorado, as the next highest was Joe Sakic’s 120-point season in 1995-96.

With two periods left in the regular season for MacKinnon, he has 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points in 81 games and one period. He easily blows away his previous career-highs in goals, assists, and points, helped largely by playing an 82-game season for the first time since 2018-19. Entering Thursday’s game, he sat six points behind Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov for the scoring lead, so he needs another four points in the game to tie Kucherov.

MacKinnon was the first overall selection for the Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut the following season in a year that earned him the Calder Trophy, and has kicked off an incredibly successful 11-season career with the Avs that includes a Lady Byng trophy in 2020 and a Stanley Cup in 2022, and he’ll be looking to add a Hart Trophy to that case with his performance this season.

After spending most of his career on a bargain contract, MacKinnon is in the first year of his new eight-year contract with a $12.6 million cap hit. He currently has the highest cap hit in the league, although that will be surpassed next season when Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews’ $13.25 million AAV kicks in.