Nathan MacKinnon’s elevated physicality brings added dimension to Avalanche star

Nathan MacKinnon’s dazzling speed and offensive skills have always led the conversation about what makes the Avalanche forward one of the NHL’s best. Watching MacKinnon closely this postseason, though, reveals an extra layer to his game.

It seems like MacKinnon is playing … angry.

“You take a look at the game and watch his shifts — I don’t know how best to describe it — but it’s the importance that he’s putting on the defensive aspect of the game,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

“He understands that he is able to play great defense. It’s hard work. It’s a commitment. It’s physicality. It’s doing all the right things on the defensive side of it to help get our team going offensively. He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s intelligent and he understands the game.

“He’s able to shut down top players.”

The image of MacKinnon slamming Arizona Coyotes forward Christian Fischer to the ice in Game 4 of the first-round initially comes to mind, but MacKinnon’s physicality has been equally impressive in smaller moments.

He’s recorded 10 hits in eight games. Several have resulted from impressive back-checks, in which MacKinnon lures a defender near the boards, then launches a surprise counter-hit, often sending his opponent to the ice. MacKinnon’s willingness to increase net-front traffic, helping to break Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper, was also a display of his playoff-ready physicality.

“I just think that’s him ramping up the intensity at the most important time of the year,” Bednar said.

Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi spent the past four seasons with the San Jose Sharks and aided in the elimination of Colorado from the playoffs a year ago. However, Donskoi’s respect for MacKinnon has only grown since becoming teammates.

“(MacKinnon) is extremely tough to play against,” Donskoi said. “He’s obviously super-skilled, but he’s also strong and can read battles. Like we saw (in Game 4 against Arizona), he can read battles hard and he’s just the complete package. I’m pretty happy to be playing for the same team this year.”

The spin on MacKinnon’s aggression uptick is more time in the penalty box. MacKinnon received a Lady Byng Trophy finalist nod — given annually for sportsmanship — after he took only 12 penalties over 69 games during the regular season. He stopped being so polite in the playoffs.

MacKinnon reached 10 penalty minutes in only eight games inside the Edmonton bubble, including an unsportsmanlike conduct minor in round-robin play against the Vegas Knights, in which MacKinnon got vocal with a referee from the bench.

“He knows that he can’t be doing that at a key time in what’s a playoff game and he’ll learn from it,” Bednar said.

MacKinnon has so far harnessed that fire into becoming the Avs’ most physical forward, with mostly warranted time in the box. The added dimension of physicality could lead to MacKinnon transforming into arguably the best hockey player in the world right now.

It appears that the spotlight won’t change his mission. MacKinnon’s hits will keep on coming.

“We don’t feel like we have a target on our back, we haven’t won anything,” MacKinnon said. “We’re a hungry team that feels like it has a lot to prove.”