Nathan MacKinnon

Playing career

Early life

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.

Junior

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)

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.

International play

MacKinnon's first experience with Hockey Canada came when he was named to the Canada Atlantic team for the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Despite being the second-youngest player at the tournament, MacKinnon scored five goals and eight points in only five games to finish seventh in tournament scoring. This included a game in which he scored two goals and two assists to be named player of the game as Canada Atlantic defeated Finland 4–3. His impressive play helped Canada Atlantic to its best finish since the 2005 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, defeating Canada West 2–1 in the fifth place game. The following year, MacKinnon was named to the Canada Atlantic team for the 2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.

On December 13, 2012, MacKinnon was named to the Canadian junior team for the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, alongside with Mooseheads teammate Jonathan Drouin. The tournament ended in disappointment for the Canadians, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals and finished in fifth place overall.

MacKinnon made his senior national team debut at the 2014 IIHF World Championship. He returned for the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where Canada won the gold medal for the first time since 2007 with a perfect 10–0 record. MacKinnon finished the tournament with 4 goals and 5 assists. The following year, the NHL held the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where MacKinnon competed as a member of Team North America, a squad composed of the best Canadian and American players under the age of 24. The year after that, he returned to the Canadian national team for the 2017 IIHF World Championship, where he led the team in points on the way to a silver medal, having been defeated by Sweden in the final. Coming off a disappointing season in the NHL, MacKinnon called his experience with the national team beneficial.

After nearly a decade without a major international tournament held with full NHL participation, the league hosted the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025. MacKinnon was again part of Canada, and scored four goals in four games, including the first goal in Canada's 3–2 win in the championship game against the United States He was named the most valuable player of the tournament. After the Avalanche were eliminated from 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round, he rejoined the national team for the 2025 IIHF World Championship. Canada finished first in its group, with MacKinnon leading the team in scoring, but was upset in the quarterfinals by tournament co-host Denmark.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Bold indicates led league

Awards, honours, and records

Records

Note: this includes the team's years as the Quebec Nordiques

Most career overtime goals (15)

Youngest player to record their first NHL goal (18 years, 41 days)

Most points in a season (140, in 2023–24)

Most two-point games in a season (44, in 2023–24)

Acting career

MacKinnon has appeared in a recurring role (along with former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Cameron Critchlow) on the Canadian television show Mr. D, playing a fictionalized version of himself. He first appeared in season 2 episode 4, when he and a teammate have to leave an exam early to play in a school hockey game. When the teammates tell Mr. D (portrayed by Gerry Dee) that they did not finish the exam, he tells them to take it home and return it completed the next day. In season 3 episode 7, he is in detention for missing too much school to play hockey. Mr. D is oblivious to his talent and reprimands him ("Hockey's not a job"), although it is implied that, in the show's timeline, this takes place before the 2013 NHL entry draft, where MacKinnon was drafted first overall, despite airing in 2014. In season 4 episode 11, MacKinnon returns to give tickets to an Avalanche game to the school principal. When Mr. D enters the room a moment later, he calls MacKinnon "Mr. Calder" and tells him that he always believed in him. When Mr. D. asks for tickets to a game, MacKinnon tells him that all the games, including those in the exhibition and the following season, are sold out.

MacKinnon has also appeared as himself in Trailer Park Boys, season 11 episode 7 at Ricky's ball hockey camp. In 2019, he returned in a voice acting role in Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series season 1 episode 3, again portraying himself.

MacKinnon, along with fellow Cole Harbour native and NHL player Sidney Crosby, have appeared in a series of Tim Hortons commercials produced for YouTube. During his career, MacKinnon has turned to Crosby for inspiration, including the 2019 playoffs. MacKinnon, Crosby, and Brad Marchand are collectively known as the “Nova Scotia Mafia”, and they have played for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics.