Is Nathan MacKinnon the best player in Avalanche history? - ESPN

DENVER — If 1995 served as a benchmark in the history of the Colorado Avalanche franchise geographically, it's also the year one of the most defining players in franchise history literally entered the scene.

That's the year Nathan MacKinnon was born.

The Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver and became the Avalanche in 1995, winning a Stanley Cup in their first season behind Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy. The trio was named to the NHL's 100 Greatest Players of All Time list in 2017. The talent that has come through Denver includes Ray Bourque, Teemu Selanne and Hall of Famers like Rob Blake and Paul Kariya. Milan Hejduk, who isn't in the Hall of Fame, was a longtime face of the franchise.

There were lean years, of course. Suffering through that hardship set the stage for them to draft Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and MacKinnon. As with any top prospects, there was hope they would parlay their promise into winning at least one Stanley Cup, and perhaps be included in the all-time great discussion among Avs players.

Landeskog is worthy of making the all-time Avalanche team. Makar is a two-time Norris Trophy winner who is already the greatest defenseman in franchise history. Rantanen is another all-time great, whose legacy lasted nine-plus seasons before he was traded in 2024-25.

Then there's MacKinnon. There's no question that he's one of the best players to have donned a burgundy and blue sweater.

But will he finish his career as the greatest player in Avalanche history — or does he already hold that title?

«There's a lot of records that Joe Sakic has with the Avs that we didn't think would be broken,» said former Avalanche player John-Michael Liles, an analyst on the team's broadcast. «And now