Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon is poised to achieve something he's never done in his NHL career

MacKinnon has 30 goals through 35 games, a rate that puts real pressure on his own career benchmarks. His previous high sits at 51 goals, set during his Hart Trophy season, and that number suddenly feels reachable before spring even warms Denver.

The math is simple but still jarring when you see it written out. At his current pace, MacKinnon would pass 51 goals around Game 59, well before the stretch run usually separates contenders from pretenders.

What stands out is how varied the scoring has been. Some nights it is the heavy one timer on the power play, other nights it is a quick release off the rush, or a rebound finished through traffic.

Watching this stretch as a fan, it feels less like a heater and more like inevitability, the kind of dominance where every shift carries a scoring threat.

Colorado's structure helps, but this is mostly about MacKinnon dictating pace. His zone entries are cleaner, defenders are backing off earlier, and that extra space is turning half chances into goals.

The Avalanche power play has benefited too, with penalty killers forced to cheat toward MacKinnon's side. That opens seams for Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar, which feeds back into more favorable looks for MacKinnon himself.

There is also a durability angle worth noting. MacKinnon has logged heavy minutes for years, yet at age 30 he looks stronger through contact and more patient with the puck than earlier in his career.

The league wide context matters as well. Seventy goal seasons are rare in the modern NHL, and even flirting with that territory puts a player into a different conversation entirely.

This surge is not coming out of nowhere. MacKinnon was drafted first overall in 2013 for nights exactly like this, when the offense bends around him and opponents spend entire shifts reacting.

For Colorado, the bigger picture is comforting. When your best player is driving results like this before January, it gives the roster room to find secondary scoring without panic.

Whether he actually hits 70 or not almost feels beside the point. The Avalanche are getting the version of MacKinnon that tilts ice, fills buildings, and makes every game feel like it could swing on one shift.