Cale Makar: The Real Elite 8

All Hail Cale!

This is my 888th story on Vocal, and with three eights on my story total, I just had to make #888 a piece about a young player who can easily be the best defenseman in the NHL today: the next/true Great Eight, Cale Douglas Makar. Now, I'm an Avalanche fan, so of course, I'll say that Makar's the best dman in the league. But here's the thing. I say it on social media quite a bit. Some people know I'm an Avalanche fan, but despite this, I never get accused of playing favorites. That tells you that a vast majority of hockey fans know that Makar is the best blue-liner in the game right now.

And just think about this: Makar ending up with the Avalanche was the result of a combination of a horrible season and dumb luck.

The 2016-17 season was a nightmare for the Avalanche. Only three years after winning the Central Division and racking up 52 wins, the Avs had the worst season since the move. 48 total points in the standings. The only reward for such a bad season is the Draft Lottery, but the Avs ended up with the fourth pick. That's where the horror was. Here's where the dumb luck comes in. Cale Makar was supposed to be a Philadelphia Flyer. The team's scouts wanted Makar, but the Flyers decided to draft Nolan Patrick. Makar ended up drafted fourth overall by the Avs in that draft, after the Dallas Stars selected Miro Heiskanen with the 3rd pick (not bad). Nico Hischier was the #1 overall pick in that draft, which also featured notables such as Elias Pettersson, Nick Suzuki (who went to be part of the Canadiens' 2021 run), Filip Chytil (currently part of the Rangers' "Kid Line"), Jake Oettinger, and some kid named Jason Robertson (who is killing it in Dallas, along with Oettinger).

Makar actually continued to play for the UMass Minutemen in college after the draft, with the 2018-19 season seeing them reach the National Championship. The game was played after Makar won the prestigious Hobey Baker award, but they ended losing 3-0 to the University of Minnesota Duluth. The day after the loss, Makar made his NHL debut...in that year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was Game Three of the Pacific Division Semifinals between the Avalanche and the Calgary Flames in Denver, and the series was tied at one after the Avs won Game Two in overtime. The Avs were hot to start, with two goals from Nathan MacKinnon to make it 2-0.

And then, this happened:

I hadn't heard of Cale Makar until he actually fired this shot and actually put it in for his first career goal. How about that, huh? Makar's very first career goal and it comes in Game Three of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! It would be the only goal he would score in a run that saw the Avalanche fall one win short of reaching the Conference Finals; Makar would add five assists in his first NHL postseason.

Makar's first official NHL season came on the following year, the 2019-20 season that ended up paused due to the incoming COVID-19 pandemic. In 57 games, Makar racked up 50 points (12 G/38 A), and regarding the playoffs, Makar had 15 points (4 G/11 A) in 15 games during the modified year. For his efforts, Makar ended up winning the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year), becoming the first Avalanche player to win the award since Nathan MacKinnon did so in the 2013-14 season. The shortened 2020-21 season also saw Makar average a point per game: 44 points (8 G/36 A) in 44 games played. The point/game ratio continued in the playoffs: 10 points (2 G/8 A) in 10 games, a run that saw the Avalanche ousted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Elite Eight.

I figured that Makar would be up for the Norris Trophy that year. I also figured that he'd win it. To my dismay, the trophy went to the New York Rangers' Adam Fox, and even now, I don't understand why. All I know was another immensely talented Avalanche player got screwed out of an award.

As the saying goes, "The best revenge is living well." Boy, did Makar live well in the 2021-22 season. 28 goals, 58 assists, 86 points. His 28 goals led all defensemen that year. There was no way that Makar would be denied the Norris this time, and thankfully, he wasn't, as he ended up winning the trophy--despite Roman Josi's crazy season being a threat. The playoffs saw the Avalanche actually go on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001, going 16-4 during the run, which included defeating the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. As for Makar: 8 goals, 21 assists, 29 points in 20 games, including scoring the first of the Avalanche's five overtime goals during the run. For his amazing efforts, Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of that year's playoffs.

Unfortunately, the Avalanche couldn't repeat as champions this past season, though Makar had another stellar season. 66 points (17 G/49 A) in 60 games played, but only five points (G/4 A) in the Avs' too short run. Cale Makar will enter his fifth season in a few months, but look at what he's done already. Calder Trophy, Norris Trophy, Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, and he's not even 25 yet! He's getting a lot of well deserved praise from so many talking heads, but one statement that has stayed with me was a comparison to Paul Coffey, the legendary top defenseman from the Edmonton Oilers dynasty in the latter half of the 1980s. You know who made that comparison? None other than The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky.

That made my day when The Great One said that. He played with Paul Coffey! He won Cups with Paul Coffey! And he actually compared Cale Makar to Paul Coffey! If that isn't validation that Makar is the best defenseman in the entire National Hockey League, then I don't know what is. And again, he's not even close to being done yet!