Nathan MacKinnon is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, with a plethora of electrifying highlights in which he makes NHL defensemen look like they are just putting on skates for the first time. Particularly intriguing is his unique skating stride, a mix of power and efficiency that propels him across the ice in seconds. This article will explore the mechanics of what makes MacKinnon such a spectacular skater.
Part 1: MacKinnon’s Linear Stride
Speed Pillar #1: Off-ice Strength
MacKinnon generates an incredible amount of force from each stride and crossover he takes. A part of this is his technique, which I will cover below, but perhaps the salient aspect for him is simply his brute strength and explosiveness.
Speed Pillar #2: Shin-angle Mobility
Shin angle refers to the angle the shin creates with the ground, or in this case the ice. A positive shin angle is anything below 90 degrees. MacKinnon has as good a shin angle in his natural skating stride as any NHL player. This allows him to generate a huge amount of potential energy as he digs into the ice, which is transferred into forward speed as he launches himself forward and pushes his toe off the ice. Creating this positive angle requires strong ankles and knees, both of which MacKinnon has.
Speed Pillar #3: Elongated Arm Swing
MacKinnon does not employ the extended arm swing too much, as he generally does not take more than two or three linear strides without next doing a cross-over or some sort of lateral movement. But in situations where he is required to take several successive linear strides, such as on the backcheck or when starting from a complete stop, he uses an elongated arm swing. This simply means that when striding, MacKinnon will push the arm opposite his gliding leg out as far as he can, elongating his body and powering himself forward.
Speed Pillar #4: Inside Toe Bend
The toe push is the part of the stride that really propels the player forward, and MacKinnon does something really interesting here. He collapses his ankle leading into the toe push such that the angle between his skate blade and the ice becomes significantly more acute. This allows him to generate more power on his push-off than a player who has a higher angle in this regard. This requires strong, flexible ankles as well as a skate that is not tied too tight.
Part 2: MacKinnon’s Crossovers
Perhaps the starkest difference in the skating profile of MacKinnon compared to the average NHLer is the quantity and explosive nature of his crossovers. He uses crossovers to attack defensemen inside-out rather than by skating straight down the wall, to change directions, to gain speed, and sometimes even simply to skate laterally up or down the ice. I will cover the mechanics of his crossovers by breaking one of his crossovers into six separate parts.
Picture 1: Notice how compact all the parts of MacKinnon’s body are: his feet are fairly close together at this point and his arms are tucked close to his chest. This compactness allows him to change directions on the crossover rapidly; his hips aren’t waiting for his feet to catch up, his chest isn’t waiting for his hips to catch up, and so on. All body parts move together in the direction of motion.
Picture 2: Of note here is the bend that MacKinnon’s outside edge of his left toe makes with the ice. This is putting a lot of stress on a finite part of the blade. Most NHL players cannot attain this level of outside edge bend, and as a result struggle to generate as much power on the push-off stage of the crossover. Notice also that MacKinnon’s head is already facing forward at this point; well before his chest or hips have fully rotated.
Picture 3: Here MacKinnon starts to really drive his inside leg forward. His left leg does not drag behind, however; it holds its ground, digging into the ice and producing high amounts of potential energy.
Part 4: MacKinnon has now planted his right leg after pushing off his left.
Part 5: In this stage, MacKinnon has brought his left leg under his body and out in front, completing the crossover and preparing for the next one. While his stance has widened, it is still significantly more compact than most skaters can manage; most skaters naturally see their right leg push out and widen more than MacKinnon’s, which wastes time and energy getting into the next crossover. MacKinnon is still compact here, and as a result can now quickly start driving his right knee forward again to continue his crossover sequence.
Picture 6: MacKinnon starts pushing his right leg forward, leaning heavily on the outside edge of his left skate, and once again rotating his head early in the process.
To see how MacKinnon uses his speed in real-game situations, click here.
Pictures taken from InStat: MacKinnon’s goal vs. Vegas, February 2021
A Note on the Player Reports
These player reports are designed to provide analysis on what makes the best players in the NHL so good. Please get in touch with me (information found in the Contact Me page) if you have any players/skills that you would like me to analyze and I’ll be sure to respond quickly. For examples of other analyses, see my work on Matthews’ goal-scoring or Kucherov’s collection of skills.