Forensics: Nathan MacKinnon
Anthony Lancione
2014-12-12
What to make of Nathan MacKinnon’s sophomore slump.
Even superstars aren't precluded from the much maligned sophomore slump. The 2013 NHL Entry Draft's crown jewel, Nathan Mackinnon is right in the midst of a major lull having not scored a goal in exactly a month – with his last marker coming on November 13th in Manhattan. The last time he scored a goal on home ice? November 2nd – a whole 16 games total have been logged by him since then. In fact, he's now scoreless in his past five contests, with a minus-7 rating in that span.
15.87%
EV
MACKINNON,NATHAN – MCGINN,JAMIE – PARENTEAU,PIERRE
5
7.94%
EV
LANDESKOG,GABRIEL – MACKINNON,NATHAN – PARENTEAU,PIERRE
4
6.35%
Just look at his most common linemates this year. You've got a pair of 37-year-olds in Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere eating up a lion's share of minutes on Mackinnon's line this season. It's pretty apparent the two aging veterans simply cannot keep up.
2014-15 Frozen Pools – Most Frequent Linemate Generator – Nate Mackinnon
|
Frequency |
Strength |
Line Combination |
|
34.58% |
EV |
12 IGINLA,JAROME – 92 LANDESKOG,GABRIEL – 29 MACKINNON,NATHAN |
|
12.86% |
EV |
92 LANDESKOG,GABRIEL – 29 MACKINNON,NATHAN – 90 O’REILLY,RYAN |
|
7.27% |
EV |
12 IGINLA,JAROME – 29 MACKINNON,NATHAN – 11 MCGINN,JAMIE |
|
7.13% |
EV |
48 BRIERE,DANIEL – 29 MACKINNON,NATHAN – 40 TANGUAY,ALEX |
|
3.49% |
EV |
48 BRIERE,DANIEL – 29 MACKINNON,NATHAN – 11 MCGINN,JAMIE |
After beating the improbable odds to firestorm their way to a Western Conference regular season championship, Colorado has truly felt the full force of the Regression Monster this season, reverting much closer to the mean.
Their poor performance this season is making the Avalanche seem to some as the epitome of a fluke last year. However, the same cannot be said about Nathan big picture. He's just going to have to work through these issues. However, a line juggling should definitely be in the cards for Coach Patrick Roy soon, so as to seek a better way to best utilize his most skilled player.
I still see Mackinnon breaking out of this funk, though matching last year's totals is now become a high end goal for the year, with the more likely scenario being Mackinnon just falls short, but approaches 60 points.
(Give Anthony Lancione a follow on Twitter @Anthisdaman)
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
N.JStarting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| TRAVIS KONECNY |
 PHI | |
| MARCO ROSSI |
 MIN | |
| COLE PERFETTI |
 WPG | |
| NILS HOGLANDER |
 VAN | |
| JJ PETERKA |
 BUF
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
TOR
CGY
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 COL Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 25.9 | NATHAN MACKINNON ARTTURI LEHKONEN JONATHAN DROUIN | |
| 22.2 | MIKKO RANTANEN ZACH PARISE CASEY MITTELSTADT | |
| 14.3 | MILES WOOD JOEL KIVIRANTA ROSS COLTON | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: Florida Panthers with Colby Guy
Colby Guy joins the show to talk about the Cup champs. We discuss Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Mackie Samoskevich, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Nate Schmidt, Adam Boqvist, Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our Cat’s Instincts segment to discuss Spencer Knight and […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Boston Bruins with Fluto Shinzawa
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic joins Victor and Jesse to talk Boston Bruins. They discuss David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie, Matthew Poitras, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and Joonas Korpisalo. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our Cat’s Instincts segment to discuss Brandon Bussi and Michael DiPietro. […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Brian Hedger on the Columbus Blue Jackets
Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch joins the show to look forward to next year’s Blue Jackets.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Nashville Predators with Bryan Bastin
Bryan Bastin of On the Forecheck joins Victor and Jesse to talk Nashville Predators. They discuss pros Filip Forsberg, Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O’Reilly, Tommy Novak, Luke Evangelista, Philip Tomasino, Cody Glass, Roman Josi, Alexandre Carrier, Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen, Yaroslav Askarov, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Toronto Maple Leafs with Cindy Caron
The Toronto Maple Leafs made it to a Game 7 overtime but were frustrated again in the playoffs. Recorded pre-free agency, Cindy Caron of I-Express.ca joins Victor and Jesse to go over the pro roster: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann, Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren, […]