Nathan MacKinnon already did plenty for the Colorado Avalanche last season. He led the team with 53 goals, 74 assists and 127 points, numbers that would make almost any star the centerpiece of a contender.
And still, there’s a clear place where he can push the Avs even further in 2026-27: the power play.
That was the biggest problem hanging over Colorado’s regular season. The Avalanche finished 27th in the league at 17.1% on the man advantage, and even a late-season bump couldn’t erase how rough that unit looked for most of the year. It was a glaring issue, no matter what they tried.
MacKinnon did his part in terms of raw production, finishing with 11 power play goals to lead the team. Brock Nelson was next with 10, Martin Necas had nine, and Cale Makar was the next closest with four. Four.
For Colorado, the message is simple: if MacKinnon is the best player on the roster, he has to be the driving force on the power play too. The Avalanche can’t afford another season where their biggest weakness shows up again when the games matter most.
That means more than just scoring goals. It means time on the practice ice, time in the film room, and a better handle on the X’s and O’s they want to bring into games.
The bar doesn’t have to be absurdly high. Colorado doesn’t need to jump from 27th to first overnight.
Getting into the top half of the league would already change the picture, and something around the 20% range would be a major step from where they were. The Edmonton Oilers led the NHL at 30.6%, but the Avalanche don’t need to match that to make a real difference.
What they do need is a unit that moves, stays consistent and looks less predictable. The idea is to make the power play a weapon again, not a problem. If that happens, Colorado’s ceiling changes fast.
MacKinnon is the player who can set that tone. He’s already the engine of the offense, and there’s every reason to believe he can keep piling up points at the same level. If more of those points come on the power play, that’s the kind of shift that turns a weakness into an edge.
And that’s where the Avalanche need him most in 2026-27.
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For the Avalanche, the larger market lesson is how quickly contract talk can start to orbit elite stars once one situation gets attention. Cale Makar is heading into the final year of his deal and is expected to be in line for a major extension, the kind of negotiation that naturally invites comparisons to Quinn Hughes contract path, while the rest of the league keeps making room for its own offseason decisions. Edmonton, meanwhile, has cap space and appears poised to look for help up front, with its new coachs system likely shaping how aggressively the Oilers pursue that addition. [Read more 🡒]
Cale Makars Contract Just Put Colorado In An Uncomfortable Spot
The Cale Makar situation has become one of the more awkward storylines hanging over Colorados offseason, even if the Avalanche still look far more likely to keep their franchise defenseman than move him. Adrian Hernandez of Mile High Hockey recently dug into the contract picture and framed it as something worth watching closely, with negotiations carrying real weight for both Makar and the team as the calendar pushes deeper into the summer.
Hernandez points to a September 15 deadline as the date that could shape how this all plays out, and the fact that Makar does not have trade protection only adds to the unease around the discussion. It remains a highly speculative scenario, but if the sides do not find common ground, other NHL teams would almost certainly be watching for any opening, which is enough to make Colorados long-term planning feel a little less comfortable than usual. [Read more 🡒]