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Colorado Avalanche Rookie Stud Cale Makar Could be Captain

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 27: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche looks on during a break in the action against the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center on December 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 27: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche looks on during a break in the action against the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center on December 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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  1. Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar has the poise, skill, and work ethic to serve as a lettered leader on the team.

The Colorado Avalanche have one of the most exciting rookies players in defenseman Cale Makar. What’s more, he’s one of the most level-headed young men I’ve ever come across. I’ve said it time and again — he’s preternaturally poised.

Naturally, we all know he’s also a crazy good player. Sometimes it looks like he’s playing the NHL on easy mode. He’s a definite leader on the ice.

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And that’s what I’m getting to — Cale Makar’s leadership ability. I believe he can captain the Colorado Avalanche the way he captained the UMass Minutemen last season.

Now, I haven’t lost my mind in quarantine. I am well aware we have a captain. Indeed, he’s a captain I’ve long extolled the virtues of.

As long as Gabriel Landeskog is on the Colorado Avalanche, he will be the captain. There is no reason on god’s green earth or the devil’s red hell to strip the C from his chest. He epitomizes every single thing you want to see in a captain.

That said, the player who was once the youngest-ever captain, christened at the tender age of 19, is now 27 years old. We want him to be our captain forever, but he will retire one day. He may even (fingers crossed, no) get traded.

If Landeskog were to retire at the perfectly reasonable age of 37, Makar would be only 31 years old.

What’s more, fellow defenseman and, by Makar’s own admission, NHL mentor Erik Johnson is already 32. His contract will expire in 2023, when he will be 35. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him retire then so he could focus on his horse racing. He’s currently a (well-deserved) alternate captain.

That’s just three years from now, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Makar take on that role of alternate captain.

Now, some players like to propose Nathan MacKinnon as a future captain, and I’m certainly not going to discount that. I’ll explore in a future post whether I think MacKinnon is a future captain for the Colorado Avalanche.

I just see a different sort of leadership in Cale Makar.

I don’t see any current players getting stripped of their letters so that Makar can wear one. We all know you don’t have to wear a letter to be a leader on the team, though.

Mark my words, though. With the kind of player and the kind of person Cale Makar is, he will wear letters for the team. He will prove to be a leader both on and off the ice.

Next. Fresh Facts about Cale Makar. dark

I firmly believe Cale Makar will one day be the captain of the Colorado Avalanche.

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