Nathan Raymond MacKinnon (born September 1, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre and alternate captain for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). MacKinnon was selected first overall by the Avalanche in the 2013 NHL entry draft.
MacKinnon won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. Individually, MacKinnon has been awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2014 as the top rookie, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2020 for sportsmanship and performance, the Hart Memorial Trophy in as the most valuable player in 2024, the Ted Lindsay Award in 2024 as the most outstanding player and the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner as the NHL's leading goal-scorer in 2026. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2026 and the Ted Lindsay Award in 2018, 2020 and 2025. These achievements have made him widely regarded as one of the best ice hockey players of his generation.
MacKinnon was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and grew up playing in the minor ice hockey system of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. As an atom aged player (under 11), MacKinnon recorded 200 points in 50 games. When MacKinnon was 12 and 13, he played Bantam AAA for the Cole Harbour Red Wings, recording seasons of 110 and 145 points, respectively. After these two seasons, MacKinnon enrolled at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota. MacKinnon chose to leave his hometown and attend the Minnesota boarding school because of the strength of its ice hockey program. In his first season at Shattuck-Saint Mary's playing with the Bantam Tier I program, he scored 101 points in 58 games to finish second in team scoring. For the 2010–11 season, MacKinnon joined the under-16 Midget program at the school. Despite being the team's second-youngest player, MacKinnon was averaging more than two points a game and was second in team scoring at the midway point of the season. During the season, MacKinnon was named to the team that represented Nova Scotia in the ice hockey tournament at the 2011 Canada Winter Games. MacKinnon scored eight goals and eleven points to finish fourth in tournament scoring as Nova Scotia finished in seventh place. MacKinnon finished his second season at Shattuck-Saint Mary's with 93 points in 40 games played, and was second on the team with 45 goals scored.
Heading into the 2011 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Draft, MacKinnon was widely regarded as the favourite to be selected first overall and was ranked by QMJHL Central Scouting as the best available player. Despite this, MacKinnon spent the day of the draft skating with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL), as he was considering playing either college ice hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or major junior ice hockey in the QMJHL. On June 4, 2011, MacKinnon was selected first overall by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the 2011 QMJHL Draft. Because MacKinnon did not speak French, there was speculation that he would follow through with his option to play in the USHL until he was eligible for the NCAA, unless his rights were traded to a different QMJHL team. On July 13, 2011, MacKinnon's rights were traded to the Halifax Mooseheads for Carl Gélinas, Francis Turbide, the Mooseheads' first round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 and the Quebec Remparts' first round draft pick in 2013, previously acquired by Halifax. The Mooseheads had been attempting to acquire MacKinnon since Baie-Comeau was awarded the first overall pick in the 2011 draft. MacKinnon scored his first QMJHL hat-trick on December 3, 2011, scoring five goals in a 6–4 victory over the Quebec Remparts. In a league of 18- and 19-year-olds, MacKinnon was only 16 when he accomplished this. The opposing coach for the Remparts was his future coach with the Colorado Avalanche, NHL Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. With five goals in one game, he tied the Mooseheads record for the most goals in a single game held by Jason King.
On May 26, 2013, MacKinnon led the Mooseheads to their first Memorial Cup championship. He was also named Most Valuable Player, scoring a tournament-best seven goals and six assists in four games, and earned a spot on the Tournament All-Star team.
Colorado Avalanche (2013–present)
Early years, team and scoring difficulties (2013–2017)
On June 19, 2013, leading up to the 2013 NHL entry draft, Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy, who owned the first overall selection, stated publicly that his team would select MacKinnon if the draft were held then, despite widespread speculation that the team was likely to select defenceman Seth Jones, who grew up in Denver, Colorado. "It would be tough for us not to take MacKinnon," Roy told ESPN The Magazine. Roy also refused to rule out trading the pick. On June 26, Avalanche Director of Amateur Scouting Richard Pracey reiterated the team's decision to pick MacKinnon. On June 30, the Avalanche did indeed use their first overall pick in the draft to select MacKinnon (while Seth Jones was chosen fourth overall by the Nashville Predators. MacKinnon was signed to his first NHL contract, a three-year entry-level deal, with the Avalanche on July 9. MacKinnon made his NHL debut to begin the 2013–14 season on October 2, becoming the youngest hockey player to ever dress in a regular season game for the Colorado Avalanche franchise, registering two assists on two goals by Jamie McGinn in a 6–1 victory over the visiting Anaheim Ducks. MacKinnon scored his first NHL goal October 12, against Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals during the second period at the Verizon Center. As the season went on, MacKinnon's role increased, as he was placed on the top two offensive lines. He claimed his first NHL record in becoming the youngest player to record back-to-back two-goal games from January 4–6, 2014, beating Dale Hawerchuk's of the original Winnipeg Jets from 1981. MacKinnon later compiled a 13-game point streak from January 25 to March 6, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (who turned 19 during his first season having a January birthday) to have the longest scoring streak by an 18-year-old in NHL history. MacKinnon finished the season appearing in all 82 games and led all rookies with 24 goals and 39 assists for 63 points as the Avalanche finished the season as the second seed in the Western Conference to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2010. MacKinnon became just the third player in the NHL to record seven points in his first two playoff games with a goal and six assists in the first two contests against the seventh-seeded Minnesota Wild in the opening round of the 2014 playoffs although the Avalanche would eventually fall to the Wild in seven games, despite initially building a 3–2 series lead. On June 24, MacKinnon won the Calder Memorial Trophy for the rookie of the year, becoming the youngest player to ever win this trophy and third in Avalanche history behind Chris Drury in 1998–99 and Gabriel Landeskog in 2011–12. He was subsequently selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team.
MacKinnon recorded his first career NHL hat trick on February 22, 2015, in a 5–4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to become the youngest player in Avalanche history to record a hat trick.
Later in the same game, MacKinnon blocked a shot, resulting in a broken foot. He continued to play several more games and sustained a broken nose on February 26 in a 3–1 loss to the Minnesota Wild as a result from a hit by Wild’ forward Sean Bergenheim. He played one more game after these ailments, which was a 4–3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 4 before missing the last 18 games of the season. Prior to getting sidelined, MacKinnon saw his individual production drop having recorded 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points in the first 64 games of his sophomore NHL season and the Avalanche would struggle as a team having not qualifying for the playoffs.
On March 18, 2016, in a 4–3 victory over the Calgary Flames, MacKinnon suffered a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL), causing him to miss the final 10 games of the 2015–16 season. Prior to his injury, MacKinnon recorded 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in the first 72 games. Despite his increased productivity compared to the year prior, the Avalanche continued to struggle as a team as they missed the playoffs once more.