It was his Hart Trophy to win last season. He was the best player in the league, and had he been healthy all year, he likely would have come away with the honor. Now, a year later, Nathan MacKinnon has been even better for the Colorado Avalanche. After a handful of down years, the 2017-18 season became the breakout everyone had been waiting for, and now he’s building on that success.
We all knew how naturally talented MacKinnon was, but some were starting to wonder if the first overall selection in the 2013 draft was ever going to live up to the hype.