The Colorado Avalanche are going to be looking to keep the postseason series against the Stars going on Thursday at Ball Arena. They currently trail Dallas 3-2 in the series, and one more loss would officially eliminate them from any chance of hoisting the Stanley Cup this year. However, though the Stanley Cup is the main focus for every team every single year, two Avalanche players have a chance to add a different trophy to their trophy case.
On Wednesday, the league announced the three finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. Those players are Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning).
What is the Ted Lindsay Award? It is an award that is voted on by the players for who are the “most outstanding” in the given year. What puts these Avalanche players on the list over some others? Well, we know that MacKinnon is one of, if not the greatest player in the entire league with his special scoring talent. He moves extremely well, and has no fear when skating with the puck between defenders. MacKinnon won the award last year.
Makar became the first defenseman to reach 30 goals in a season since the late-2000’s. He led all defensemen in goals and assists, meaning overall points, too. Though he accomplished those great statistics, I just feel like he could have done even better. He just seemed off some days.
Personally, I’m a bit surprised that Makar made the list over Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck was out of this world in the 2024-25 regular season, recording the lowest goals-against average of 2.00.
Kucherov had more points than MacKinnon, too, though I still would probably take Makar off the list instead of No. 29, in favour of Hellebuyck. Also, Hellebuyck is most likely going to win the Vezina trophy after his league-crushing performances this season, so I wouldn’t have hated it if he got chosen for the Ted Lindsay instead of Makar.
With two Avalanche players making the final top-3 in the Ted Lindsay race, it wouldn’t shock me if the league puts them atop the finalists for years to come. There’s no sign of either of them slowing down anytime soon, and though I think Makar wasn’t at his best at times, the league obviously feels otherwise. I want to see more of Makar’s talents feed into next season, but before we get there, he has a chance to help the Avalanche advance to the second round of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Your move, Cale.