Nathan MacKinnon is the Colorado Avalanche's only No. 1 overall draft pick but other first-rounders have thrived in burgundy and blue. Three current top picks have elevated their play to elite status — Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.
The 2023-24 season was a career-best for MacKinnon and Makar and a second-best for Rantanen. The star forwards and defenseman led the Avalanche to earn 107 points but the team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the second round by the Dallas Stars.
MacKinnon was the top overall choice in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and has proven his worth with only one fewer than 50 points season and two with more than 100. He is a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy this season and has been in the running for the accolade three other years.
Colorado drafted its captain second overall in 2011 and although he has missed the last two seasons due to a knee injury, Landeskog has played a crucial role on and off the ice.
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"We can't go and get a guy the caliber, player or the person that that Gabe is. His injury has been challenging in a lot of ways but not more challenging than what he's going through," GM Chris MacFarland said. "He loves the game. He's a massive cog in what we're trying to do. And he's earned the right to have as much time as it takes to get back on the ice."
The 6-foot-1 Swedish native has only fallen short of at least 50 points in two of his 11 NHL seasons and earned his career-high 75 points in the 2018-19 season. He led his team to a Stanley Cup in 2022 but has been recovering from a knee injury he sustained during the 2020-21 season. He underwent cartilage replacement surgery in May 2023 and is hoping to return to the ice sometime during the 2024-25 season.
At the age of 25, Makar has already proven to be one of the best defensemen in NHL history and made several records lists. Colorado took him fourth overall in the 2017 draft but he remained at the University of Massachusetts and earned the Hobey Baker Award before joining the Avalanche during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He scored his first-ever NHL goal in his first-ever NHL game and won the Calder Trophy.
After winning the Cup in 2022, he was awarded the Conn Smythe and Norris Trophy and has been a finalist for the NHL's top defenseman award every season since entering the league.
As one of the most underrated players in the NHL, Rantanen has improved every season since the Avalanche drafted him 10th overall in 2015.
The 27-year-old Finn earned 104 points last season and 105 the previous season for a career-high, and has played a major role in the team's success on the top line with MacKinnon.
The Avalanche's poster franchise player and now president of hockey operations, Joe Sakic, has been in the front office through all four top draft players still active with the team. Rantanen's contract is up after next season but the other three are committed to long-term deals to stay in Colorado for a while.
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