Roy knew 15-year-old MacKinnon would 'be very special' player

Really interesting read in The Denver Post on Colorado Avalanche rookie sensation Nathan MacKinnon, including how he was originally selected by Baie-Comeau, a 'terrible team' in the QMJHL draft.

"If Baie-Comeau wasn't going to trade me, I was going to go to Omaha," MacKinnon said. "The owner is a good friend of my agent and it would have been a good situation for me. I was in Omaha, skating with the team, so I was serious about it.."

MacKinnon's preferred team was the Halifax Mooseheads, but would have also been fine with the Saint John (New Brunswick) Seadogs and Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts.

So how close did Roy and MacKinnon, now together with the Avs, come to crossing paths at that earlier date?

"Not close at all," Roy recalled. "I inquired, I checked, but I knew he was going to play (major junior) only two years. To pay as much as it would have been was too expensive. It would have been a lot of draft picks. I would have had to give too much in assets. We were in the process of rebuilding. There was no need for us to pay that much for Nate. It would have been nice to have Nate, but we would have had no defense and it would be a tough trade to make. Halifax was in a better position and it worked well for them and it worked well for Nate, because he was playing in his hometown. I knew he was going to be very special."

Source: Terry Frei, Denver Post