Avalanche Star Nathan MacKinnon Is on the Verge of 2 Career Milestones
Nathan MacKinnon is entering the 2026-27 season with another pair of major career milestones sitting directly in front of him.
The Colorado Avalanche superstar has already established himself among the most productive players in franchise history, but the upcoming season could add two more significant achievements to his résumé.
According to NHL Stats, MacKinnon needs just 50 games to reach 1,000 career games and 58 points to reach 1,200 career points. If he reaches both marks, he would become just the second player in franchise history to reach 1,200 points, joining Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Sakic.
MacKinnon Nears 1,000 Games
MacKinnon enters the season with 950 career regular-season games under his belt. The milestone should come early in the 2026-27 campaign if he remains healthy, marking another significant moment in a career spent entirely with Colorado after the Avalanche selected him No. 1 overall in the 2013 NHL Draft.
MacKinnon has combined that longevity with remarkable consistency. After recording 127 points in 80 games during the 2025-26 regular season, he finished his first 13 NHL seasons with 420 goals and 1,142 points.
His 2025-26 campaign was another standout season, as he led the NHL with 53 goals and recorded his fourth consecutive 100-point season. Reaching 1,000 games will be a testament not only to MacKinnon's durability but also to how much production he has provided throughout his career.
1,200 Points Would Put Him in Elite Franchise Company
The 1,200-point mark could be even more significant from a franchise perspective. MacKinnon needs only 58 points to reach the milestone, which would make him the second player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to do so.
Sakic currently sits atop the franchise's all-time scoring list with 1,641 points, but MacKinnon has already surpassed him in several Colorado-era categories. The Avalanche captain passed Sakic for the franchise's Colorado-era points record during the opening game of the 2025-26 season.
Now, MacKinnon has another opportunity to move closer to Sakic's franchise standard while establishing an even larger gap between himself and the rest of Colorado's scoring history.
A Milestone-Filled Season Ahead
MacKinnon's recent production suggests that 1,200 points could arrive sooner rather than later. He reached 100 points in just 59 games last season, setting a franchise record for the fewest games needed to reach the mark. His continued offensive production has also helped keep Colorado among the NHL's top contenders.
The Avalanche are coming off a 2025-26 season in which they set a franchise record with 121 points before reaching the Western Conference Final. As Colorado enters another season with championship aspirations, MacKinnon's individual milestones will provide another storyline to follow. His 1,000th game should arrive early, while his pursuit of 1,200 points could become one of the season's more notable individual milestones.
Despite having already cementing himself among the greatest in franchise history, there is still plenty of history left for MacKinnon to make.
