3 players the Colorado Avalanche can’t afford to lose in 2024-25

2. Cale Makar

Cale Makar is widely regarded as the greatest defenseman in the NHL today.

With his defensive abilities as well as being a threat on offense, the Colorado Avalanche have him playing more hockey than anybody on the team. He averaged 24:46 of ice time per game last season while playing in just 66 games. The next closest was Devon Toews at 23:26, followed by Mikko Rantanen at 22:54.

Makar sees the ice incredibly well. If his teammates are in the right spots, he can make the passes to them easily. Even off script, Makar has special abilities to make plays out of nothing. Of course, that’s not how you want things to play out very often, but like in all sports, stuff like that will happen occasionally.

Makar played in 77 games last season, recording 21 goals and 69 assists. It is a little bit surprising that he only had 21 goals, as he could have had quite a few more. However, he finished the season with 90 points.

There is no doubt in my mind that Makar can reach 100 points sometime in the near future. His 90 points were a career-high, and being the best defenseman in the game as just 25-years old, there are no signs of the superstar slowing down.

The Colorado Avalanche are extremely fortunate to have this master of a defenseman.