Avalanche's MacKinnon on pace to bury career highs

Nathan MacKinnon is finally living up to the billing of a first overall pick.

The Colorado Avalanche center, the top selection at the 2013 NHL Draft, scored the overtime winner against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. He added an assist to bring his point total to 28 (eight goals, 20 assists) through 23 games.

This marks a massive uptick in production over last season - a campaign MacKinnon and the Avalanche are more than ready to forget. He appeared in all 82 games for the last-place team, recording only 16 goals and 37 assists to lead Colorado with 53 points.

At his current pace, he's on track for 29 goals and 71 assists, both of which would be career highs and would amount to an impressive 100-point season. MacKinnon's shooting percentage sits at 12.5, up from his career average of 8.4. He's also not recording as many shots as last season, suggesting his scoring may fall off a bit as the season wears on.

Still, with Matt Duchene's departure via trade to the Ottawa Senators and captain Gabriel Landeskog sitting out a few games due to suspension, MacKinnon's emergence is timely, and the Avs are in contention for a playoff spot as a result.

Quite a turnaround for both player and team after last year's disastrous results.

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