The Colorado Avalanche are looking to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024-25. They would not be as successful as they have been, without some key contributors on both offense and defense. How many of them could potentially be the team’s most valuable player? Perhaps four or five different guys.
The Avalanche haven’t been as successful since their most recent Stanley Cup-winning season, but by no means have they been a terrible team, making the postseason every year since, still. They just have to find their way over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s possible with so many great players. You cannot ever rule them out, unless they literally are eliminated.
I’ve narrowed it down to three players who I think have the best chance at becoming the team’s best player.
3. Cale Makar, defenseman
For new fans of the Colorado Avalanche, or NHL fans in general, you would find out who Cale Makar is pretty darn quick. Simply put, he is “arguably” the best defenseman in all of the NHL. Some will argue that Quinn Hughes would be ranked above him, but that won’t be me. As an Avalanche fan, it is a treat to get to watch him night in and night out.
Last season, Makar played in 77 of 82 games, recording 21 goals and 69 assists for a total of 90 points. Despite that awesome stat sheet, he actually had seven more goals during the team’s Stanley Cup season in 2021-22. He is always a game-changer.
Makar was also plus-15 last season, meaning that he was on the ice for 15 more goals than he was on the ice for goals against.
One of the greatest things about Makar is that, while he is technically a defenseman, his offensive skillset is evident all of the time, pretty much. That’s exactly what the ideal defenseman is. Anybody can shoot the puck in hockey, but it takes extreme talent to be able to place the puck exactly where the player is aiming.
He is also very fast. According to NHL Edge, Makar reached a top speed of 23.24 miles per hour. That came in at the 97 percentile.
So yeah, being a top player in the league doesn’t always have to include top 3 scoring. There’s more to a lot of players’ game, but none more than Makar.