Avalanche's MacKinnon on sophomore slump: 'I didn’t play well'

Nathan MacKinnon has been looking back on his second professional season with the Colorado Avalanche, and he doesn't like what he sees.

MacKinnon struggled to produce points with regularity as an NHL sophomore. He went from 63 points in 82 games as a rookie to 38 points in 64 contests in 2014-15, echoing the regression felt by the Avalanche as a team.

"The whole team was kind of in a slump," MacKinnon told Willy Pavlov of the Chronicle Herald from Prague on Thursday. "We weren't playing well and we weren't scoring. Things started going better for me but then I got hurt so it was kind of the perfect storm. But at the same time, I didn't play well and do the things out there I think I can."

The goals and assists from MacKinnon's sophomore season only tell part of the story, though. He still generated plenty of opportunities by averaging three shots per contest, and his sub-optimal shooting percentage (7.3 percent) suggests the slump was due to bad luck more than anything tangible.

The 2013 first-overall pick has eight points in eight games playing with Canada at the IIHF World Championship, which appears to be rebuilding his confidence following the rocky NHL campaign.

"Winning here and having fun over here is what I wanted to do. All those things are happening right now," MacKinnon said. "We've been dominating so far and it's been a blast. The semis are coming up on Saturday and I'm really looking forward to that. It's been good to have some fun to finish the year."

While MacKinnon's on-ice development may have hit a snag, the 19-year-old is maturing in other ways thanks to the demands of living away from home.

"When I lived on my own I started cooking and I'm actually a decent cook now. I'm pretty proud of myself," he joked. "I've gotten pretty good at cooking chicken and steak, and I'm a big veggie guy so those are my go-to things."