By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche are still waiting for their next round opponent. They know it will either be the Minnesota Wild or the Vegas Golden Knights. With that, the Avalanche might have the best player in the NHL right now, Nathan Mackinnon. This begs the question is he better than General Manager Joe Sakic when he played at this stage of his career?
Looking at just regular season stats, Mackinnon has proven to be one of the top scorers with the Avalanche and the whole league. He finished his 8th regular season. Mackinnon has scored 210 goals and added 350 assists for a total of 560 points, impressive, but he has yet to go over the 100-point mark. Mackinnon broke the 90-point mark 3 times. The closest Mackinnon has been to 100 points was 2019, finishing with 99 points. Mackinnon won the Calder Memorial Trophy for being the top rookie in 2014.
Joe Sakic on the other hand played 20 years in the NHL. In his first 8 seasons for the Quebec/Colorado franchise, Sakic had 746 points at the same time of his career. Of his 746 points, 285 were goals, meaning 461 of them were assists. He had 4 years where he scored over 100 points including an impressive 120 points in the 1996 season. He also won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1989. Looking at just regular season stats, Sakic is the clear winner. He has more points than Mackinnon.
The playoffs are where a player wants to play well. In his first 8 years so far with the Avalanche, the Avalanche have gone to the playoffs 5 times including this year with Mackinnon. To this point, the furthest Colorado advanced was the 2nd-round. This years’ playoff run is not over so who knows where it ends. Mackinnon has lit the lamp 26 times while adding 37 assists for a total of 63 points in the postseason. That total is going to go up depending on how far the Avalanche go this season.
For Sakic, the Quebec/Colorado franchise earned a playoff spot 3 times in his first 8 years at the NHL level, appearing in 34 playoff games. In those appearances, Sakic had 25 goals and 20 assists for 45 points.
Mackinnon is the clear winner. He has done more for the Avalanche than Sakic did for the Quebec/Colorado franchise in the postseason.
There is one accomplishment that sets both of them apart right now, the Stanley Cup. Sakic was able to help Colorado win its’ first major professional sports championship in 1996. Colorado swept the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. Sakic was voted the MVP and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy for his 1996 postseason play where he scored 18 goals and added 16 assists for 34 points.
Right now, Sakic is the leader because of what he did in the regular season as well as bringing a Cup back to Colorado. Mackinnon still has the opportunity to win the Cup this year. Either way, it is hard to compare because when Sakic played he was a great skater just like Mackinnon now.
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