By ANTHONY PUCIK

Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche can add one more feat to his Calder resume. On Thursday, March 6, the Avalanche defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on the road in Detroit. MacKinnon had an assist on the game winning goal, giving him his thirteenth straight game with a point. The streak unfortunately ended on Saturday, March 8 when MacKinnon failed to score against the Phoenix Coyotes, but he still made history. His 13 game point streak broke the previous record of 12 straight games with a point set by the great Wayne Gretzky as an 18-year-old.

By no means am I saying that MacKinnon is as good as Gretzky. MacKinnon leads NHL rookies in goals and points, but is nowhere near Gretzky’s totals of 51 goals and 137 points in 79 games in his rookie year with the Edmonton Oilers back in 1979. But MacKinnon is showing that he has some great talent.

Drafted by the Avalanche first overall in this year’s entry draft, MacKinnon wasted no time making an impact in the NHL. In his first game against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 2, 2013, MacKinnon registered two assists. He then followed up the next two games with an assist in each and registered his first NHL goal in his fifth ever NHL game against the Washington Capitals. He finished off the month of October with seven points in his first 11 games. Not exactly the start that Wayne Gretzky had to his career, but that’s pretty good for an 18-year-old. Even Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, another 18-year-old sensation who came up in the 2005 season, registered more points in his first 11 games in the NHL than MacKinnon with 15.

Neither Gretzky nor Crosby, however, was able to have a stretch of 13 consecutive games with a point at 18 years of age like MacKinnon just had, showing that he has great talent and a bright future ahead of him. He already has proven at his age that he has the ability to score at the NHL level, and his intelligence on the ice and vision go beyond his years. He’s also an even more dangerous scoring threat since he is six feet tall and 180 plus pounds, making him more difficult to push around.

MacKinnon is also the front runner to win Rookie of the Year this year. He is ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson and Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan in goals, has more assists than Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ondrej Palat and has a double digit lead in overall points over Johnson.

Outside of MacKinnon’s intangibles, there are other reasons why this rookie is in a good position to have a long and successful career. Colorado is a great team with strong offense, including him, and solid defense and goaltending, putting it in a good position to make the playoffs at the end of this and future seasons.

It will be interesting to see how well MacKinnon is able to handle the pressure of the playoffs in his first year. Even Crosby didn’t make the playoffs in his first year, but I think MacKinnon has the ice intelligence and natural ability to play well in any situation, regardless of his age, and he is going to be a big name in the NHL for the next few years.