Colorado Avalanche Prospect Cale Makar Adding Value to UMass

Colorado Avalanche prospect Cale Makar is impressing in the world of college hockey with his play at UMass.

The Colorado Avalanche chose defenseman Cale Makar fourth-overall in the 2017 NHL draft. Even before the draft, Makar had committed to playing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for the 2017-18 season, and he was adamant about that decision all through the draft process.

“He’s an elite player. He’s the best player on the ice.” ~UMass coach Greg Carvel

It’s hard to say whether that influenced certain teams’ decisions earlier on in the draft — I’m looking at the Dallas Stars, who stole away Miro Heiskenan. However, the Avalanche seemed content to let Makar develop for at least a year in the college system.

It worked out well for them last year, when center Tyson Jost got a year of seasoning with the University of North Dakota, less well for them after Will Butcher fled into free agency after completing his DU degree. But now we have a Harvard grad in Alexander Kerfoot, so water under the bridge.

In any case, offensive defenseman Cale Makar has been doing well with his UMass Minutemen. He’s played six games with UMass — three home and three away. He doesn’t have any goals yet, but he’s recorded three assists.

Before heading to UMass, Makar talked a little bit about what he wanted to work on concerning his game:

“I want to round out my game, but not take away from the offensive side of my game. There’s a few flaws in my defensive zone that I need to work on but nothing major that I think is going to hold me back from playing in the NHL.”

Makar isn’t known for playing a physical style of hockey. However, in his eight games, he’s recorded eight blocked shots. (And, yes, we’re all hoping he doesn’t get injured doing it, but blocking shots is part of hockey.)

What’s more, he came out strong in his debut with the Minutemen, who recorded a 3-1 over AIC in their opening night game. Makar’s head coach, Greg Carvel, complimented the freshman defenseman:

“He’s an elite player. He’s the best player on the ice. He’s the youngest player, he’s physical, he’s quick, he’s competitive, he plays with an edge, he has high-end hockey IQ, he’s a good teammate, he’s the whole package. It’s really impressive to see.”

The opponent head coach, AIC’s Eric Lang, was equally impressed:

“Scary. He gets the puck and you can tense up a little bit and you can feel the crowd’s emotion … He’s a special player.”

While Makar hasn’t gotten any goals yet with that puck on his stick, it’s not for lack of trying. He has 17 shots in his six games. To put that into perspective, that’s as many shots as first-line forward Nathan MacKinnon has in nine games. (But that’s a whole other issue — nonetheless, it’s a good amount of shots.)

The University of Massachusetts is delighted with its crown jewel. Makar is the highest-ever NHL draft pick to play for UMass. Top-five draft picks usually elect to go to the University of Minnesota (Erik Johnson), University of North Dakota (Jonathan Toews), and Boston University (Jack Eichel).

About a week ago, Makar’s college coach was still singing his praises:

“His skill set is really impressive. His skating ability, his mobility, is impressive as well. The things you don’t realize until you start coaching him is how hard he competes, how intense he is and how physical he is for probably the youngest kid on the team and one of the youngest kids in college hockey. He’s mentally tough, he’s physically tough, he just combines it all and it’s pretty impressive.”

Last year, UMass had a 5-29-2 record. They’ve already earned three wins — they’re 3-3 right now — which is just two away from their total wins all of last season. That’s not all Cale Makar, but he certainly has a hand in it.

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It will be good for Makar to get used to being on a team that’s turning its fortunes around. The Colorado Avalanche are in that boat right now. As they continue with their youth movement, you’ve got to think it will be at least a couple more years until they’re regular playoff contenders again.

I’m not sure if I expect Makar to make the same leap Tyson Jost did after just one season with his college team. Colorado desperately needed offense, and forwards typically take less time to develop.

That said, I wouldn’t like to see Makar spend more than two seasons at UMass. He’ll need to start getting used to the rigors of an 82-game season and the fast, gritty, super-skilled play in professional hockey. The Colorado Avalanche need their star defenseman — and I project to see Makar in the system at the latest by the 2019-20 season.

Next: Avs Got Exactly What They Need with Makar

We’re Not Saying Cale Makar Had a Better Combine than Casey Mittelstad…

Except he did. Here are some heretofore undiscovered (by me anyway) pictures from Cale Makar’s Scouting Combine:

Here’s Cale Makar’s introductory video for the Minutemen:

They also asked Cale some funny questions:

The UMass Minutemen are facing the Merrimack College Warriors this weekend in a home and home series. Hopefully Colorado Avalanche prospect Cale Makar can earn his first goal.