from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

What sets MacKinnon apart from other teenagers trying to crack the NHL is that he has both the mind and the body to play the game at the highest level. So while the Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can be a creative force, and made it right away too, he still hasn’t thickened beyond that rail-thin frame.

MacKinnon is a solid physical mass, which is complemented by a lightning quick first-step and the creativity to make a smart play, rather than force things.

This is an oh-so-rare quality and it was probably most evident in the first game, a come-from-behind win over the Wild, when Roy had goalie Semyon Varlamov on the bench for a sixth attacker with about three minutes to go.

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added 11:27am, Below, from Coach's Corner last night, Don Cherry talked about MacKinnon too...