NHL Report: Nathan MacKinnon getting bigger, faster
By Cory Buck
The Colorado Avalanche will look to build on a surprising finish to the 2013-14 in which the team captured the Central Division crown over Western Conference stalwarts St. Louis and Chicago. If they’re going to do even better this year, they’ll need their top pick, Nathan MacKinnon, to step up and replace the departed Paul Stastny at center. If reports on MacKinnon’s offseason workout regiment are any indication, that should be no problem.
Gare Joyce of Sportsnet tweeted some great news for Avs fans.
From one working with @Mackinnon9, 87, @Matt9Duchene , Tavares others: "He's gone from boy to man--1st step even more explosive now."
— Gare Joyce (@GareJoyceNHL) September 3, 2014
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It would probably be enough for Avs fans to know that MacKinnon was sunbathing with those guys. To know that he’s working out like a fiend to improve on his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign? That’s one fine cherry on top.
MacKinnon tallied 63 points in 82 games played last season, which is probably enough for anyone to dub him the next big thing. He then followed that up with ten points in seven playoff games. All of that was accomplished in the body of an 18-year-old.
If, as Joyce reports, MacKinnon is growing out of that teenage body and into a man’s mold, then the rest of the NHL will need to be very wary of the Avalanche and their potential top center, who appears poised to make a big leap in the 2014-15 campaign.