A few weeks into his tenure with the final say on hockey personnel matters, that the Colorado Avalanche wouldnt use the first overall pick on defenseman Seth Jones. At the time, it seemed like a curious move, and one that was received with an uproar in the form of backlash. After all, the Avs were loaded with young talent up front (particularly at the center position), and deeply flawed on the back end. They were lined up to ice a "whos who" but in the literal sense, as in who? no but who is that for real? on defense, and were coming off of a lockout-shortened campaign in which they had surrendered the fourth-highest goals against/game in the league. So the fact that Jones, Central Scouting Services's top-ranked player, would be filling a need while being considered something of a local kid, . Eleven days after his proclamation, Sakic proved to be a man of his word when he indeed selected Nathan MacKinnon, adding to his stable of young forwards. Anyone that has ever vocalized their opinion has inevitably swung and mi sed on occasion, but if you Google "The Avs should have drafted Seth Jones," some interesting articles will come up. It was almost as if the notion of taking the best player available, particularly that high in the draft, was JaVale McGee Jersey out of the question. Jones and everything he represented was just far too perfect. At this point I dont think that Sakic or anyone else involved in the decision-making proce s is losing any sleep over the decision. Were 60 games or so into whatll hopefully wind up being long and eventful careers for the both of them, and it sure looks like Colorado will enjoy the Nathan MacKinnon Era. Before analyzing and comparing any of the numbers MacKinnon has registered thus far, some context needs to be provided. Hes only 18 years old, and will continue to be 18 years old all the way through the end of the summer. If he were to have gone back to his Major Junior club, the Halifax Mooseheads, he'd be younger than 15 of the 24 guys on the roster. Heck, he needed his parents to come over to the Giguere household (where he was staying) . Here are the ages of some of his potential Calder Trophy nominee contemporaries: Tyler Johnson (23), Ondrej Palat (22), Torey Krug (22), Chris Kreider (22), Mark Scheifele (21), Olli Maatta and Jacob Trouba (both turning 20). Even guys from his draft cla s, in Valeri Nichushkin and Jones, are 6 and 11 months his senior. That may not seem like a big number, but at that age and stage of development, it matters. Six months from now MacKinnon should be stronger, faster, and more refined. All of which makes it scary to think that hes just scratching the surface of his potential. He has 22 goals and 22 a sists in 58 games this season, putting him on pace for an exce s of 30 goals and 60 points. To put that into perspective: only eight players have scored 30 goals at the NHL level ; Dale Hawerchuk, Sidney Crosby, Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Brian Bellows, Bob Carpenter, Jeff Skinner, and Trevor Linden. Thats some pretty illustrious company. For what its worth only six more Ilya Kovalchuk, Jordan, Staal, Jaromir Jagr, Ted Kennedy, Ron Francis, and Paul Gagne have even made it to the 25-goal mark. His rookie trajectory compares pretty favorably to some of the former first overall picks that have quickly matured into the leagues very best. Heres a quick summary of how all of the forwards drafted in that slot since 1997 had fared in their respective rookie campaigns: After bursting onto the NHL scene with two a sists in his debut, and seven points in his first six games, MacKinnon managed only nine goals and 17 points in his next 33 games. But since the calendar flipped over to the new year, he has been on a rampage. In the 19 games between Jan. 1 and the Olympic break, MacKinnon has lit the lamp 12 times (for 20 total points). While some of the increase in goal scoring can be attributed to a spike in shooting percentage, most of it is due to the inevitable positive regre sion in that same metric. Hes now up to 12.9 percent for the year, which strikes me as something that he could sustain. Its not exactly surprising that it took him some time to adjust to the pro game. , MacKinnon himself admitted as much: "It was kind of an adjustment the first 25, 30 games, but I kind of turned that corner and realized I can produce in this league." His game is still a work in progre s, particularly at 5v5, where his underlying numbers dont really jump off the page. Hes not yet a positive po se sion player Colorado takes about 47 percent of even-strength shot attempts with him on the ice but hes not exactly being sheltered by Patrick Roy, either. MacKinnon also has been also asked to a sume all sorts of roles around the line, playing with a variety of different players (ranging from the Matt Duchenes and Gabriel Landeskogs of the world, to the John Mitchells and Max Talbots), and different positions (on the wings and down the middle). And generally speaking, the two-way at 5v5 (particularly the defensive side of things) tends to come along more slowly for young players that never nece sarily had to worry about that while they came up as the next big thing. Its a testament to his obscene raw skating ability and skill that hes been able to continue getting by and producing, even while taking his introductory lumps. Just and . An area where he has managed to particularly excel thus far has been with the man advantage, which has rapidly become his bread-and-butter and allowed him to rise to the top of the Rookie of the Year debate. Heres a relevant stats dump for you: Hes ninth in the league in shots/60 (behind some .) Only Zach Parise . Hes actually one of the main reasons the Avs are getting power play opportunities in the first place, as his plus-12 penalty differential . Suffice it to say, thats a lethal combination. Hes not only drawing penalties at an impre sive clip, but then he's also finishing what he started and making the opposition pay by converting those chances at an elite level. He has been a legitimate a set in this aspect of the game, and has as a result more than made up for any of his shortcomings. Its impo sible to say what his ceiling is for his this season, let alone his career. But by the numbers and the eye test it sure does appear that MacKinnon is trending towards superstardom before our very eyes, and in turn making Sakic and the Avs look awfully smart for going against the grain back in June. Hes got a future in this sport. Dimitri Filipovic is the managing editor for , a Sporting News partner. Follow him on Twitter: . Zydrunas Ilgauskas Jersey