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Video: Roenick says MacKinnon is more dominant at 18 than Crosby was

Minnesota Wild v Colorado Avalanche - Game Two

Game Two of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 19, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.

Doug Pensinger

When any player scores six points in two playoff games (and three in each respective contest), people get excited. When that guy is 18 years old and those two postseason contests rank as his first two games, the praise gets downright bold.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that Colorado Avalanche wunderkind Nathan MacKinnon inspired Jeremy Roenick to throw the words “Hall of Famer” and “more dominant than Sidney Crosby” around. Roenick specifically compared MacKinnon, 18, favorably to Sidney Crosby when he was at the same age:

Out of curiosity, let’s take a look at what MacKinnon and Crosby did in their rookie years.

MacKinnon (2013-14): 24 goals and 64 points (+20 rating) in 82 games played.

Crosby (2005-06): 39 goals and 102 points in 81 games played (-1).

Of course, it was easier to hit 100 points during that 2005-06 campaign, so context might help. MacKinnon’s 64 points tied him for 34th in the NHL’s leading scorers while Crosby finished sixth in his season. Of course, Roenick would almost certainly counter with this: MacKinnon’s seven points already top the five Crosby scored in five playoff games during his second season in the league.

It’s one of those highly subjective discussions that can go around in circles, but the bottom line is that they’re both outstanding and that the Avalanche seem to have a special player in MacKinnon. (Is he the best rookie since Crosby? Well, there are plenty of talented players who would have something to say about that, including Crosby’s teammate Evgeni Malkin.)

In case you’re wondering, Roenick had 18 points in 20 regular season games as a teenager with the Chicago Blackhawks (and four points in 10 games that 1989 postseason), so he knows a thing or two about prodigies.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins