Predicting Nathan MacKinnon's Stats for the 2026-27 Season
Greatness is expected. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Nathan MacKinnon. He is expected to be great, and he’s earned that distinction.
MacKinnon is a superstar for the Colorado Avalanche and he produced yet another incredible season in 2025-26. He finished the year with 53 goals and 127 points while also earning the Rocket Richard Trophy and being a major component of the team picking up the Presidents’ Trophy.
The Avalanche finished with 121 points and entered the playoff run as the Stanley Cup favorites.
What a season! Of course it didn’t end how anyone in Denver wanted or expected it to, and honestly, the difficult path now lies ahead. Doing it again, but better.
Repeating a 127-point season is a challenge and truly a monumental task. Opposing teams will be focusing their game plan around trying to slow down the Avalanche’s star player. Maintaining that level of production for MacKinnon will be a tall task, but it doesn’t mean that he will see a major decline either.
In fact, we are going to predict far from it.
Staying Near the Top
Colorado has a roster that will help MacKinnon remain one of the NHL’s top scorers.
Martin Necas has a stand-out year where he established himself as an elite offensive threat. He posted a 100-point season. Brock Nelson, Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri all give Colorado scoring depth.
What this means for MacKinnon? Well, teams can’t focus too much on him or they will leave themselves wide open for the other threats to score. They will have to give him some breathing room, and that’s dangerous as well.
He won’t have to carry the burden every night, but teams can’t relax or he will make them pay. He has all the tools and will like have another MVP-caliber season.
Matching 127 Points Will Be Difficult
The truth here is that history just isn’t on MacKinnon’s side to repeat his season.
The NHL's greatest players rarely match their career-best offensive season in consecutive years. This, of course, is not to say MacKinnon can’t do it, just that history usually teaches us something.
MacKinnon led the league last year with 53 goals. Regardless of skill and even the teammates that surround him to give him the opportunity, this will be difficult to repeat.
If his goal total lands somewhere in the high 40s it certainly won’t mean that MacKinnon has taken a step back, it will just highlight what an incredible year he had in 2025-26.
Our Prediction
The importance MacKinnon has to this team is unmatched. He’s a star, and I am not projecting him to take a step back. He just doesn’t have to carry the load quite as much this year and I look for others to up their game and contribute more.
Projected 2026-27 Stats:
- Games: 81
- Goals: 48
- Assists: 76
- Points: 124
- Power-Play Goals: 16
- Game-Winning Goals: 6
The Hart Trophy conversation will still heavily contain MacKinnon with a 124-point season. He will remain as one of the NHL elite, and that goes without saying.
For most players, this type of prediction would be career-best numbers. For Nathan MacKinnon, it’s just one more season of proving why he is one of the best in the world.
Laura Lambert resides in Wiggins, Colo. with her husband, Ricky and two sons, Brayden and Boedy. She attended the University of Northern Colorado while studying economics. She is an accomplished rodeo athlete and barrel horse trainer along with being a life-long sports fan. Over the years, Laura has been active in journalism in a variety of roles. While continuing to cover western sports and country music, she is currently enjoying expanding her reach into multiple sports including MLB, NHL, NCAA and WNBA. Laura covers the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Avalanche and Rodeo for On SI. You can reach her at lauralambertmedia@gmail.com