The Colorado Avalanche have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in four games. The Avalanche dominated in 5-on-5 play, as they did throughout the regular season. However, once again, the power play was terrible, with only one goal on 11 opportunities, a paltry 9.1%.
Familliar face shares his solution
On a recent episode of the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, former Avalanche defenseman and fan favorite Erik Johnson was asked about the power play and what the Avalanche could do to fix it. His solution: Get Cale Makar to shoot from the top more.
“I think Makar needs to shoot more from the top.”
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 27, 2026
Erik Johnson gives his thoughts on how to fix the Avs power-play. pic.twitter.com/bljDNspBEw
Johnson isn't wrong here, as his reasoning for moving the focal point of the power play from Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas to Makar opens up the rest of the ice for the team. Teams will have to respect the shot from the point and that will open lanes up, creating more high-danger opportunities. Some of the plays the Avalanche have run recently have worked, especially the strategy they utilized just after the Olympic break. This strategy being effective when both Nazem Kadri and Makar were injured.
Johnson also brought up that the Avalanche need to simplify their game. It feels like the top unit constantly looks for the pretty pass. Simplifying the game involves forcing the other team out of position to open up those passing and shooting lanes. Once those players start to overcommit to a play, it allows the team to have more options for quality scoring opportunities
Another point I agree with Johnson on is that it doesn't always have to be MacKinnon taking the shot. I think the position swap between MacKinnon and Necas was the right move, as MacKinnon being the facilitator makes the most sense. As I pointed out in a recent article on the power play, the move to put MacKinnon at the goal line and distribute the puck was what worked for them after the Olympics. I offered a similar idea to Johnson's in that the top unit could use MacKinnon's spin-and-flip shot down low to get defenders to bite and create more space elsewhere.
Looking at the numbers
To really drive how much the Avalanche need Makar to shoot more on the power play, I dove into a few statistics. Makar scored four power play goals all season, tied for his lowest output. Those other two seasons saw him play only 44 and 57 games. He played 75 this year. It's a similar story for shots—the only seasons in which he had less shots were because he played in significantly less games. Makar has been stifled as an offensive weapon on the power play and it shows in his stats. He likely would've hit the 90-point mark had the Avalanche power play not been so dismal this season.
I wholeheartedly agree with Johnson in that Makar needs to be more involved on the power play. I think that using the strategy of MacKinnon at the net with the spin and flip move to pull defenders to him will open up Makar. After that, they can continue to open the game even more if they get both MacKinnon and Makar firing quality shots with the man-advantage.
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