Nathan MacKinnon's secret sauce

What it means to be "deceptive"

Nathan MacKinnon is a beast.

Colorado’s top center currently makes a whopping $12.6 million per season, yet NHL writer/analyst Dom Luszczyszyn’s model still has his deal as one of the best values in the league.

Last week I discussed how Zach Hyman doubled his scoring by matching his skillset to his environment. MacKinnon, in contrast, did so by honing his fundamentals.

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How does one score 140 points at the NHL level, as MacKinnon did in 2023-24?

By being extremely good at producing goals and assists. Obviously.

So how does one do that?

By being deceptive.

But how does one do that?

By preserving optionality for as long as possible before a shot or a pass.

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Let’s look at some MacKinnon highlights from his rookie season (2013-14).

Teenaged MacKinnon’s skating, stickhandling and physicality were already otherworldly.

And yet COL29’s point production was pedestrian, maybe even disappointing by first-overall standards, during his entry-level contract.

Early-career MacKinnon was not a very deceptive player.

He’d either blow your doors off on an entry, whack in the odd one-timer off the cycle or else stay off the scoresheet.

Like a bad poker player, young MacKinnon had a very noticeable tell.