Avalanche offseason: MacKinnon, Necas leading respective countries at IIHF Worlds

Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas haven't started their offseason for the Colorado Avalanche just yet, as both are contributing for some of the top teams in the IIHF World Championships

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

May 15, 2025, 11:22 AM

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Colorado Avalanche fans still have a bad taste in their mouths after what transpired in Dallas a week ago when the Avs blew a two goal lead in the third period of Game 7 against the Stars. Since then, Mikko Rantanen has continued his tear while the Avalanche have made some coaching changes in a week that wouldn’t have been imaginable for Avalanche fans back in January.

While most of the Avs players have kicked off their offseason, albeit early, two key contributors are waiting a little longer to dip their toes in the sand. Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas are across the pond in Sweden, and have played three games for their respective countries in the IIHF World Championships.

For Canada, MacKinnon has tallied five points in three games with two goals and three assists while rocking the No. 9 sweater instead of the traditional 29. He is tied for the team lead in points and is a +4 in his near-57 minutes on the ice. He also isn’t tired from the grueling seven game series he wrapped up a week ago, as his 64 shifts are the most by any forward on the team.

Nathan MacKinnon has hit the #IIHFWorlds 😮‍💨🔥 pic.twitter.com/S8o0YdpELv

— Everyday Avs (@EverydayAvs) May 10, 2025

MacKinnon’s five points are also tied for the sixth-most by anyone in the tournament, even though he’s played one less game than almost everyone above him on the list.

Team Canada is 3-0-0 and sitting towards the top of Group A with a 16:1 goal differential.

On the other side in Group B, Martin Necas has Team Czechia sitting in third place with a 2-1-0. The winger has two goals in 33 minutes on the ice, tied for the most on the team.

Could the two Avalanche forwards end up squaring off at some point in this tournament?

The tournament is still in the preliminary stage, a round-robin between teams in each group. After the opening round, the top four teams from each group will advance into a single elimination tournament. The second team from Group A would play the third team from Group B, which currently stands as Canada and Czechia.

Both MacKinnon and Necas have four games left to play for their respective countries in the preliminary stage, which wraps up in March 20. If they can keep racking up the points, Avalanche fans could see two of their top forwards clashing against each other on the ice in Europe next week.