MacKinnon Has Already Surpassed Sakic Among Avalanche Greats
December 15, 2025
MacKinnon Has Already Surpassed Sakic Among Avalanche Greats
13 comments
This is dumb to the point of being ragebait. Sure, if we arbitrarily ignore the Quebec years and his tenure as GM, Sakic and MacK are pretty close. Even that requires us to ignore the fact that Sakic has a Conn Smythe, captained the team to two cups, and played in an era of less scoring and a team with worse management.
By the end of his career, there will be a good argument for MacK over Sakic- he is clearly a better player relative to his peers for the era. Right now, it’s not all that close.
This take has a two cup minimum.
(Also, dropping Sakic’s Nordiques career at the door is arbitrary to the point of silly. That he suffered those years in Quebec, stayed with the team and got over his reputation as a non-clutch performer is key to his legacy. In the larger context, it’s bizarre to treat the Avs as a franchise that poofed into existence as a cup contender — is the Lindros trade not a keystone of the franchise lore?)
Not yet. One thing remains.
Vader. He must confront Vader.
I’m not gonna take this bait.
Sakic put hockey on the map in Denver. Mac probably will surpass Super Joe at the end of his career. But even Mac knows there’s a lot more work ahead before that’s even a conversation
I’m a little tired of this need for us to count xyz person as the top of whatever category. Like I think we can all agree that Nate has been great for the franchise, so let’s just see where he ends up at the end of his career vs saying ‘greatest of all the Avs’.
I understand how Reddit works, but likes it’s so tiring see all these ‘greatest of…’ posts. Or maybe I’m just ready for a break at Christmas.
Joe Sakic’s non-Conn Smythe winning run is waaaaaay better than MacKinnon’s only Cup-winning run. Playoff play and two-way play will always be the deciding factor to me. Sakic was off the charts clutch.
I love Mack and believe he is the 2nd best player in the league, but Sakic was a career Nord/Av and won countless awards and 2 championships with us. Mack is going to be his equal, but surpass? That undermines Sakic, and while Mac is I’d argue, his level, you can’t surpass a guy like that.
MacK is a great player but not a leader, which is something that will always keep him from reaching the same heights as Sakic or Crosby. Nothing wrong with it, it’s just not in his wheel house.
Joe has two cups. One Conn Smythe. A long, consistent career. 188 point in 172 playoff games (1.09 ppg playoffs, 1.19 ppg reg season). 19 playoff game winning goals.
Nate has one cup. 95 pts in 125 playoff games. (1.32 ppg playoffs, 1.17 ppg reg) 10 playoff game winning goals.
Nate is probably the more dazzling player and is a top 3 player in his prime. Sakic was more top 5, top 10 (but was also against Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr), and the dead puck era saddled the latter half of Sakic’s career. .
So, in short I dunno. Lucky to have witnessed both and hope they’re both around a lot longer.
Premature.
Mack and Sakic have two heads on my Avs Rushmore, along with Roy and Forsberg. Though I’d hear arguments for Stastny (Quebec, but hard to leave off) and Makar.
He might surpass Sakic eventually, but we aren’t there yet.
13 comments
This is dumb to the point of being ragebait. Sure, if we arbitrarily ignore the Quebec years and his tenure as GM, Sakic and MacK are pretty close. Even that requires us to ignore the fact that Sakic has a Conn Smythe, captained the team to two cups, and played in an era of less scoring and a team with worse management.
By the end of his career, there will be a good argument for MacK over Sakic- he is clearly a better player relative to his peers for the era. Right now, it’s not all that close.
This take has a two cup minimum.
(Also, dropping Sakic’s Nordiques career at the door is arbitrary to the point of silly. That he suffered those years in Quebec, stayed with the team and got over his reputation as a non-clutch performer is key to his legacy. In the larger context, it’s bizarre to treat the Avs as a franchise that poofed into existence as a cup contender — is the Lindros trade not a keystone of the franchise lore?)
Not yet. One thing remains.
Vader. He must confront Vader.
I’m not gonna take this bait.
Sakic put hockey on the map in Denver. Mac probably will surpass Super Joe at the end of his career. But even Mac knows there’s a lot more work ahead before that’s even a conversation
I’m a little tired of this need for us to count xyz person as the top of whatever category. Like I think we can all agree that Nate has been great for the franchise, so let’s just see where he ends up at the end of his career vs saying ‘greatest of all the Avs’.
I understand how Reddit works, but likes it’s so tiring see all these ‘greatest of…’ posts. Or maybe I’m just ready for a break at Christmas.
Joe Sakic’s non-Conn Smythe winning run is waaaaaay better than MacKinnon’s only Cup-winning run. Playoff play and two-way play will always be the deciding factor to me. Sakic was off the charts clutch.
I love Mack and believe he is the 2nd best player in the league, but Sakic was a career Nord/Av and won countless awards and 2 championships with us. Mack is going to be his equal, but surpass? That undermines Sakic, and while Mac is I’d argue, his level, you can’t surpass a guy like that.
MacK is a great player but not a leader, which is something that will always keep him from reaching the same heights as Sakic or Crosby. Nothing wrong with it, it’s just not in his wheel house.
Joe has two cups. One Conn Smythe. A long, consistent career. 188 point in 172 playoff games (1.09 ppg playoffs, 1.19 ppg reg season). 19 playoff game winning goals.
Nate has one cup. 95 pts in 125 playoff games. (1.32 ppg playoffs, 1.17 ppg reg) 10 playoff game winning goals.
Nate is probably the more dazzling player and is a top 3 player in his prime. Sakic was more top 5, top 10 (but was also against Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr), and the dead puck era saddled the latter half of Sakic’s career. .
So, in short I dunno. Lucky to have witnessed both and hope they’re both around a lot longer.
Premature.
Mack and Sakic have two heads on my Avs Rushmore, along with Roy and Forsberg. Though I’d hear arguments for Stastny (Quebec, but hard to leave off) and Makar.
He might surpass Sakic eventually, but we aren’t there yet.
Says who?
Obvious clickbait is obvious.