I understand if some people are hesitant to name Colorado Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar into the Hall of Fame right now. The biggest thing being that he’s still in his 20s and has a lot of hockey left to play. On the other side of the coin, though, is the fact that he has accomplished so much already, and he’s still only 26 years old.
Makar has won a Stanley Cup, the Calder Trophy, the Norris Trophy, and the Conn Smythe trophy. He’s widely regarded as the best defenseman in the NHL, no matter who tries to say otherwise. That isn’t taking away anything from guys such as Zach Werenski. There is healthy competition for being the best at your position in all sports. It’s fun to think about and fun to debate.
On Thursday, Drew Livingstone posted a screenshot of a poll of the best defensemen in the league, as voted on by fellow players. While the number of votes is relatively small, 41, Makar led the way with 10 votes.
Cale Makar was voted the hardest defencemen to play against by NHL players. As expected #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/UYSHWTiusf
— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) September 18, 2025
This isn’t the best representation of a percentage for the topic, but it does bring up how it’s surprising that Makar didn’t receive more of the votes. I wonder if some of the votes went to some voters’ teammates. That makes sense, though it sort of defeats the purpose.
Noting the phrasing of the poll question, it doesn’t specify a specific category of defenseman players find hardest to play against. So, taking that into account, it would be talking about players’ entire skill set. In that regard, Makar leads the way especially because of his offensive skills. He was the first defenseman since Mike Green in 2008-09 to score 30 goals in a season.
The amazing thing is that I feel like the star defenseman could put up even more, and we could see that in the 2025-26 season. If one thing’s for sure, it’s that you can’t eliminate all of the positive possibilities for Cale Makar. He’s the best in the league and up there with the all-time great defenseman in NHL history. We are fortunate to be able to see greatest with our own eyes, and the fact that he’s in his prime at 26 years old is such a fun thing to think about. When it’s all said and done and his career is over, hopefully we will get to say that Makar is a 3-time Stanley Cup champion.
Though it likely wouldn’t have needed to happen for voters to put Makar into the Hall of Fame when he retires, the extra recognition doesn’t hurt.