Aarif Deen
Coaching might be in the plans for Nathan MacKinnon’s post-playing career.
Or maybe not, but the Avalanche’s superstar — the league’s reigning MVP — has quickly proven that he can adjust with the times. Even if a midseason trade happens, he’ll do his homework and get ahead. Especially if it’s a player he’s likely going to play with.
Last month, the Avalanche suddenly shipped Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. MacKinnon’s longtime teammate and friend netted Colorado two forwards in Martin Necas and Jack Drury, as well as a couple of draft picks.
Drury is a depth center. But Necas, who led the Hurricanes in points at the time of the deal, was going to be MacKinnon’s new linemate.
If there was any chance that the pair were going to become the same type of two-headed monster that MacKinnon and Rantanen were, then the Avalanche’s top star was going to need to get ahead. Even if it meant going above and beyond amid a chaotic NHL schedule.
Here’s what he did.
“I watched a lot of video on him when he came here, and he was good on the half wall, so I don’t want to hog it too much,” MacKinnon said of his new teammate, referring to the right-handed Necas’ go-to spot on the man advantage. “I think a little rotation is always pretty good. It confuses [the opposition] a little bit.”
MacKinnon was open and honest about the sadness he felt when Rantanen was traded. The two were not just teammates but linemates pretty much connected at the hip for nearly a decade.
Late in the horrible 2016-17 season, they developed chemistry with Sven Andrighetto. It led to a 20-year-old Rantanen recording his first 20-goal campaign. But then things took off the very next year.
By December, Rantanen was first in the league in points, and MacKinnon was second. Rantanen went on to post over a point per game, and MacKinnon was narrowly defeated by Taylor Hall for the Hart Trophy.
Over the next five full seasons, they formed arguably one of the best, if not the best, dynamic duos in the league. Before the trade this year, they again put up the same type of numbers as years past.
MacKinnon hated to see him go. And you can understand why. But it didn’t stop him from buckling down and doing something often saved for the coaching staff.
“I think that’s what separates him from the rest,” Bednar said of his franchise center. Referring, again, to MacKinnon watching video on Necas on his own. “I don’t think that would be common practice. It’s common practice for myself and [assistant coach] Ray Bennett in that situation, with an offensive guy coming in, to watch a lot of video.
“To have Nate take the initiative to watch a guy that he wants to make sure they get on the same page. He wants to know Marty’s thoughts, and he’ll talk to him just like I would, and then they share ideas and try to get on the same page to be highly effective.”
Necas’ start in Colorado has looked a lot different than Rantanen’s in Carolina. Even with his first multi-point game with the Canes on Thursday, Rantanen has just two goals and five points since the trade.
It’s no secret he felt blindsided by the deal and has struggled with that part of it. But given the number of linemates he’s had and multiple centers he’s been paired with, perhaps MacKinnon getting ahead on learning quickly about his new teammate’s game is what’s helped get Necas better acclimated.
That’s how you win a Hart Trophy, a 4 Nations Face-Off MVP trophy, and lead the league in points at the 60-game mark.
Necas has four goals and 12 points in 11 games. He’s just two points behind Rantanen for point totals in the league.
“MacKinnon is one of the top two players in the league, he knows we’re gonna play together. So it’s nice that he’s breaking down film since we haven’t played against each other that much,” Necas said. “It’s great that he does that. He was always a guy that I watched a lot on TV before because he’s so good. There is so much you can learn from him.
“But for him, he knows it’s going to help him to learn about my game before we even step foot on the ice together. He does anything to get ahead and to win and be the best.”