The Flyers, six years removed from a playoff series win, aren’t yet exciting anyone and, of far deeper concern, the Eagles are 3-4. So Nathan MacKinnon slipped into and out of Philadelphia on a Monday night with a minimum of hype and before a few hundred fans short of a true capacity crowd worthy of his talents.

To make the attendance respectable, the Flyers gave away even more Gritty tee shirts than they did pucks in a listless 4-1 loss. After MacKinnon retrieved his own rebound on a first period power play and instantly zipped a backhand pass for a Mikko Rantanen slam dunk, the Avalanche didn’t have to do much so they didn’t. A big event, it wasn’t.

Perhaps one visit a year–quick now, who won the Avalanche’s visit to Wells Fargo last season?–just isn’t enough to inspire any “Crosby isn’t here so MacKinnon will have to suck for now!” chants. Or maybe word travels slowly out of the mountains that according to the Hart Trophy voters, MacKinnon was the second most valuable player in the NHL a year ago.

As he was the first overall choice in the 2013 draft, the dramatic elevation in 2017-18 of his status may not have seemed to happen fast enough to a once-powerhouse Colorado franchise that hasn’t won a playoff round since 2008. But to a hockey universe blessedly dazzled by Crosby vs. McDavid-the best argument by the way since Gretzky vs. Lemieux, which only was the greatest argument of all-time–MacKinnon has to power his way inside Auston Matthews, too, before there is a befitting awareness of the dynamic Colorado center.

Taylor Hall edged MacKinnon for the MVP and Claude Giroux’s 102 points only got him fourth place. Holy Steve Yzerman, that’s a lot of greatness and greatness-to-be at one time, which is good for the league, of course, and ultimately not so bad either for MacKinnon, whose breakout season has made the followers of the sport growingly aware of how good he is and how much even better he still might become.

“He is not an easy task,” said Flyers coach Dave Hakstol. “The speed with which he comes up the ice, you need back pressure as well as the defensemen playing it well, but has different elements to his game in addition to the speed. He is a bull out there as well.”

MacKinnon readily admits that, fool the league for 97 points once, there is no shame on Philadelphia or New York or Boston for not yet noticing. So he’s just going to have to fool it at least one more this time. The cases for building up divisional rivalries with more regular season meetings notwithstanding, MacKinnon has become part of the argument why, since 2013-14, every team shows up at least once a year in every city.

“I agree,” said MacKinnon. “Who wants to play Nashville ten times a year?”

Gretzky, once a small market star, circled the dates he played the big towns, even if he never felt allowed a bad performance anywhere. Coach Jared Bednar doubts MacKinnon can be more inspired for any contest anywhere as he already is, but stars are stars because they have large egos. Ultimately there will no keeping MacKinnon secret. East, West, North and South, this cat wants out of the bag.

“Coming into the season I felt some pressure,” he said Monday morning. “You don’t want to have a good year only once; want to see if I can do it again.”

Fifteen points in his first nine games and a 6-1-2 start for his team would seem to have allayed any concerns about the Sophomore Superduperstar Jinx, made infamous by uh, well. . . we can’t think of anybody. In the expansion era, there has been no such thing as a one-time, big-time, MVP candidate who quickly vanished back into the anonymity from which he came. Besides, you can take it from Bednar, MacKinnon aims to extend his Andy Warhol 20 minutes of fame into a career of unadorned acclimation.

“This (recognition) is well earned, something he has worked really hard for,” said Bednar. “I know he is hungry to succeed.

“He is off to the best start of his career, showing he is ready to take the next step. Nathan is one of the most driven players I ever have coached. From a leadership standpoint, he has taken on more, and he is hungry for success; not just his own but his team.”

Always, in the end it will be about the team. Ask Alex Ovechkin, assuming he has sobered up by now from one of the hardest-earned bacchanals in the game’s history. Marcel Dionne and Mike Gartner are top 10 all-time NHL scorers, but fairly or unfairly considering their supporting casts, nobody considers them top 10 all-time players after not even getting close to a Stanley Cup, never mind winning one.

At age 22, it’s early to stick that demand on MacKinnon of course. But soon enough the Avalanche, last year’s second most out-of-nowhere team behind the greatest out-of-nowhere squad there ever was–the Golden Knights–will have some work to do to elevate from first-round loser to real contender.

At least there will be no problem, now or for however long it is financially feasible, with finding MacKinnon some linemates. Gabriel Landeskog, a once first-overall pick, and the assist machine Rantanen, are hardly riding the MacKinnon’s coattails flapping in the breeze he creates through center. Landeskog was the team’s best player in Philadelphia.

“Mikko makes me better, does things that I don’t do,” said MacKinnon. “He eats the puck.

“I try to move my feet quickly and speed up the game; he gets wide and kind of slows it down. He makes me better. I’m fortunate to have him on my team. If people don’t know about him, it’s because he plays in Colorado.

“He and Gabe take a lot of pressure off me. I’m grateful for that.”

Powerful Nashville took the Avs out in six in April, a honeymoon of a loss that was a reminder that there is much still to be done by GM Joe Sakic to build the depth of forward lines and defense worthy of a sensational line.

In the meantime, MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen are awfully fun to watch, even on a Monday night in the middle of a football season in Philadelphia.

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