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Cale Makar

Colorado Avalanche Extend Cale Makar

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One of the most exciting young players in hockey has a new contract. The Colorado Avalanche have announced a six-year, $54MM extension with Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar. The 22-year-old defenseman chimed in himself to confirm the deal as well. Makar joins Alex Pietrangelo and P.K. Subban as the fifth-highest paid defenseman in the NHL at his $9MM AAV.

A Hobey Baker-winning superstar for the UMass Minutemen not long ago, Makar has proved in just two shortened regular seasons and three postseasons that his ability not only translated to the NHL, but is amplified even further. Makar has been among the elite in the league over the past two seasons, recording 94 points in 101 games with 22:27 average time on ice (and climbing). Makar already has a Calder Trophy, All-Rookie Team selection, and First Team All-Star selection under his belt at 22 and finished just shy of adding the Norris Trophy to the list this year as well. The Avalanche hope that Makar’s growing trophy collection will soon include a Stanley Cup too.

The ceiling for Makar at his age and with his dynamic ability is limitless and the Avalanche knew they needed to lock him up long-term, no matter how much money it took. Amazingly, Makar will still be in the prime of his career at 28 when this current contract expires, likely leading to another long-term deal down the road at an inconceivable financial total if his play keeps up. Despite a small frame and offensive focus, Makar is not afraid to play a physical game and has the defensive tools and IQ to hold his own in all three zones. Even if Makar’s offense starts to tail off from his current torrid point-per-game pace, he should easily maintain his value through this contract and beyond and his defensive play and puck moving continue to develop to be among the best in the league.

While adding a $9MM cap hit to the payroll is not easy, the Avs are actually fortunate that the number was not higher. Surely influenced by the six-year term rather than the maximum eight years but also likely impacted by the current flat cap and Colorado trying to keep their contending roster together, Makar settled for $9MM when he probably had a case to match Erik Karlsson for the top number in the NHL among blue liners at $11.5MM. The deal affords the Avalanche some more flexibility as they try to additionally re-sign Gabriel Landeskog and Philipp Grubauer this off-season. With Makar signed, CapFriendly projects Colorado to have over $20MM in cap space but with only 14 players on that projected roster. Things will be tight this summer and beyond in Denver, but the most important piece is now locked up.

Negotiation Notes: Larsson, Andersen, Makar, Canucks

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After locking up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a long-term deal earlier today, the Edmonton Oilers will next turn their attention to reaching a new deal with defenseman Adam Larsson. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger in the latest edition of “Insider Trading“, that is more of a “when” than an “if” at the is point. Dreger states that the two sides are already close to a new deal and “in the final stretch” of negotiations. He expects that an extension will be reached soon. For Expansion Draft purposes, soon may not be until later next month, but a handshake agreement will do in the meantime. Larsson, 28, is one of the more stable defensemen in the NHL. If the defensive-minded right-shooter hit the open market, he would draw plenty of attention, but like Nugent-Hopkins, Larsson appears willing to settle on a deal to keep him in Edmonton with reigning Hart Trophy winners Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. So really, with RNH signed and Larsson not far behind, the Oilers may actually be focusing on external negotiations already, as Dreger notes they must add a goalie and complementary scoring forwards this summer.

  • It may come as a surprise following a career-worst season, but there is mutual interest in an extension between the Toronto Maple Leafs and goaltender Frederik Andersen. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that agent Claude Lemieux recently met with the Maple Leafs’ brass and both sides expressed interest in a new deal, perhaps to the surprise of both. Andersen is likely not keen to enter the open market after a down year (and really many years of slow decline) when he could instead stay in familiar territory in Toronto. The Leafs also need a netminder this off-season and may be content to stick with Andersen, despite his struggles, given the play of Jack Campbell this season. LeBrun does point out that Toronto has told Andersen’s camp that he would be sharing the net with Campbell, potentially even starting out at less than 50% of starts, but Andersen is reportedly open to that arrangement.
  • Every year there is the threat of offer sheets and every year it never happens, but LeBrun notes that rumblings around the league are that Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar could be the prime candidate this summer. With the Avalanche needing to extend the First Team All-Star as well as captain Gabriel Landeskog, starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer, and top-six forward Brandon Saad, all while saving room to extend superstar Nathan MacKinnon and replace several impending UFA’s next summer, cap space is tight in Denver. If another team swooped in with an offer that Makar couldn’t refuse, it might just be too much of a handicap for the Avs. Doubtful, but possible. Colorado can eliminate the risk of an offer sheet to their young phenom if they can lock Makar up before the market opens on July 28.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are already hard at work on extension for arguably their two most important players, defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson. The pair of restricted free agents are centerpiece players for the Canucks and the team will whatever it takes to keep them around as long as possible. Dreger notes that GM Jim Benning and company are meeting again this week with agents from CAA Sports, who represent both young stars. A number of possibilities are on the table for both players, including a three-year bridge deal for Pettersson in the same vein as the recent contracts of Mathew Barzal and Brayden Point. However, it seems like long-term is the ideal goal. Pettersson is reportedly open to a long-term deal like that of Mikko Rantanen, while Hughes has explored contracts with terms between four and six years.

NHL Announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

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On the heels of the NHL Awards, the league has revealed the rosters of it’s all-league teams. As voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the selections are as follows:

First All-Star Team (link)

G Andrei Vasilevskiy
D Adam Fox
D Cale Makar
LW Brad Marchand
C Connor McDavid
RW Mitch Marner

Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross winner McDavid anchors the First Team All-Stars for the fourth time in his career, flanked by Hart candidate Marchand and with Vezina finalist Vasilevskiy in net. However, the story of the top All-Star squad is young defensemen Fox, the Norris winner, and Makar, a Norris finalist, manning the first team blue line in just their second NHL seasons. Marner is another first-time selection with a career year in his fifth season.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G Marc-Andre Fleury
D Victor Hedman
D Dougie Hamilton
LW Jonathan Huberdeau
C Auston Matthews
RW Mikko Rantanen

Vezina winner Fleury highlights an impressive second-team squad that also included Norris finalist Hedman and Hart finalist Matthews. This is Hedman’s fifth appearance on the Second Team All-Star roster, but all the others are first-time selections. Under-rated starts Huberdeau and Rantanen receiving much-deserved recogntion from the PHWA.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G Alex Nedeljkovic
D K’Andre Miller
D Ty Smith
LW Jason Robertson
C Joshua Norris
RW Kirill Kaprizov

With Calder winner Kaprizov leading the way, the All-Rookie teams boasts a mix of seasoned young players in their first full NHL seasons, such as Kaprizov himself and Nedeljkovic, sophomores Robertson and Norris, and true “rookies” in first-year pros Miller and Smith on the back end.

For those thinking that their favorite star was snubbed from all-league recognition this season, the voting results were actually very definitive. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon was a distant third at center, as was the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin at left wing and Vegas’ Mark Stone at right wing. Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer was way back of the top two in net as well. On defense, Hamilton was actually well behind Fox, Makar, and Hedman, but far enough ahead of Vegas’ Shea Theodore and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy. 

2021 Norris Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues to release their award finalists, this time announcing the three nominees for the Norris Trophy. The award is given out to the top defenseman “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Last year’s winner was Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators.

This year’s finalists are Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Get used to seeing Fox’s name here, as the 23-year-old defenseman has turned into one of the most dynamic two-way players in the entire league. A third-round pick by the Calgary Flames, Fox was originally traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and then to the Rangers when there were doubts he would sign out of college. New York is thanking their lucky stars for that decision after letting him loose and watching Fox score 47 points in 55 games while logging nearly 25 minutes a night. Perhaps the most impressive part is the improvement defensively he showed this season, routinely breaking up a cycle and quickly getting the puck out of his zone. Fox now has 89 points in 125 NHL games and seems like he’ll be at the top of the Rangers depth chart for a decade.

You can’t talk about young defensive phenoms without mentioning Makar though, who has been even better through his first two seasons. The 22-year-old has 94 points in 101 games and is coming off a Calder Trophy campaign. Though his point total was slightly lower than Fox, that was only really because Makar missed time with an injury. His 44 points in 44 games made him the only qualified defenseman with a point-per-game ratio this season (apologies, Brogan Rafferty). From the moment Makar stepped on the ice for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 playoffs he has been a difference-maker—he even scored the game-winning goal in that first match—and a Norris is bound to come before long.

It might not come this season though, as there is an old hand standing in the way of the two young guns. Hedman has been a finalist for five straight years now, winning the award in 2018 as the league’s best. He took home the Conn Smythe last year when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup and is generally regarded as the best defenseman in the league. Sure, that may be changing with these young players improving every day and Hedman’s defensive game showing a little inconsistency, but the 30-year-old is still a force every time he touches the ice. In a season where he also dealt with injuries, Hedman totaled 45 points in 54 games and averaged the seventh-most ice time in the league at 25:03.

Injury Updates: Makar, Dubois, Thornton, Backlund

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While Colorado is back in action today for the first time in 12 days, they’re doing so without the services of their top offensive threat from the back end as Cale Makar is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, that he’s not quite sure how the injury happened.  Makar participated in three practices with the Avalanche this week as they worked their way up to today’s game but Bednar allowed for the possibility that the injury occurred away from the rink as well.  Makar is averaging just over a point per game this season and was on a five-game point streak before their schedule was paused and he will have to wait a little while longer to try to extend it.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Jets aren’t expected to have center Pierre-Luc Dubois in the lineup on Monday against Edmonton, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He missed Saturday’s contest versus Ottawa due to a lower-body injury and it appears it will cost him a second game as well.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated that Dubois will travel with the team which suggests they expect him back at some point on this four-game road trip.
  • The Maple Leafs are expected to welcome back Joe Thornton for their opener against Ottawa on Monday, relays Postmedia’s Lance Hornby. The 41-year-old suffered a fractured rib in Toronto’s fifth game of the season and was immediately placed on LTIR.  Assuming he is able to play tomorrow, he’ll wind up missing just the minimum amount of time.  Thornton has a goal and an assist so far this season which has mostly been spent on the left wing of their top line after playing down the middle for the last two decades.
  • While Flames center Mikael Backlund left Saturday’s game against Vancouver early with a lower-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out for long. Head coach Geoff Ward told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link), that Backlund is already feeling better today and will be re-evaluated on Monday.  Calgary is back in action for the fourth and final game of this stint versus Vancouver on Monday night.

NHL Announces First And Second All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

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Following the announcements of the final five NHL regular season awards, the league also revealed their three all-league rosters: the First-Team All-Stars, the Second-Team All-Stars, and the All-Rookie Team. Below are the 2019-20 honorees:

First All-Star Team (link)

G: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
LW: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
C: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
RW: David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

The 2020 First-Team All-Stars are a historic group, the first time since the inaugural all-league honors in 1930-31 that all six honorees are first-time members of the team. Unsurprisingly, this team also covers most of the league’s major awards with Draisaitl taking home the Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross, Josi winning the Norris, Hellebuyck winning the Vezina, and Pastrnak earning the Rocket Richard.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G: Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
D: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
LW: Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
C: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
RW: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

The President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins finish with a league-best three players on All-Star rosters. Their division rival, and current Stanley Cup finalist, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only other team with more than one inclusion on the all-star rosters. Noticeably absent from either all-star teams are future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. This is just the third time since 2005-06 that at least one of the pair have not been on a postseason All-Star team, while they have both have been selected in the same year eight times in the past 15 years.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G: Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
D: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
D: Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
F: Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
F: Dominik Kubalik, Chicago Blackhawks
F: Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens

The rookie elite, led by Calder Trophy-winner Makar, is an older group than usual. Merzlikins, Olofsson, and Kubalik, all 25 or older, played in Europe for a considerable amount of time before jumping to North America as a polished product, while Makar and Hughes each played a pair of seasons in the NCAA and Suzuki aged out of juniors before turning pro. Nevertheless, the first-year pros were all impressive and still have many  quality years ahead of them.

Cale Makar Named 2020 Calder Trophy Winner

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The NHL Awards kicked off with the presentation of the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the first-year player judged to be the best of the rookie class. This year, the award went to Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Makar beat out fellow defenseman Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik.

While Kubalik was indeed a finalist for the Calder, this was a two-horse race between Makar and Hughes as expected. The PHWA voting revealed that only the New York Rangers’ Adam Fox received a first-place vote besides Makar and Hughes (and he received only one) while just five second-place votes were cast outside of the duo. At the end of the day, Makar did not receive any votes that were not first- or second-place and earned more than double the number of first-place votes as his Canucks counterpart. That was more than enough for the Colorado wunderkind to take home the Calder.

Makar, 21, has received a major hockey award for the second year in a row after he was named the Hobey Baker Award winner last year as the best player in NCAA college hockey. Just as Makar took the University of Massachusetts to the NCAA Championship game last year, he helped the Avalanche to a top-five record in the regular season and to the semifinals in the Western Conference. A dynamic puck-moving defenseman who recorded 50 points in 57 games as a first-year pro, all while logging big minutes for a rookie, Makar has the makings of a superstar in the NHL and could be back in awards contention sooner rather than later as a Norris Trophy candidate.

Poll: Who Should Win The 2020 Calder Trophy?

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The finalists have been announced for all the major awards, but like every year there is much debate over who should take home each piece of hardware. In fact, with a shortened season and unorthodox playoff scenario, the views and reasoning behind each vote will perhaps vary even more wildly.

So as we get closer to the return of NHL hockey in Edmonton and Toronto, where 24 teams will try to chase the Stanley Cup, we’re going to ask you, the PHR faithful, to explain who you would vote for if given the chance.

We’ll start with the Calder Memorial Trophy, annually awarded to “the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.” The rookie scoring race was incredible this season and likely would have gone down to the wire, while some others that were left out of the finalist group had good cases of their own.

The ones that did make that top-3, were Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Dominik Kubalik of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Makar, 21, came into the 2019 playoffs like a freight train, immediately becoming one of the most dynamic players on the Avalanche roster. That impressive debut didn’t take away his rookie eligibility, but it did give him an experience base to rely on as his first full season began. When things kicked off on the 2019-20 season, Makar was already in high gear, recording points in each of his first five and nine of his first 11 regular season games. By the end of November it was apparent that Makar wasn’t going to slow down his scoring pace, as he had put up eight goals and 26 points in his first 26 games.

Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in early December that kept him out for a handful of games and he would finish the season with only 57 games played. His 50 points weren’t quite enough to topple Hughes for the rookie lead, though he did score at a higher pace.

No, the Vancouver defenseman would end up taking home the scoring title among first-year players with an amazing 53 points on the season. The sweet-skating Hughes was a revelation for the Canucks, who started to rely on him more and more as the season went on. By the end of it, Hughes seemed to be starting every Vancouver possession by escaping pressure with his edges and carrying the puck up the ice. In his first 20 games of the season, Hughes averaged just over 20 minutes of ice time a night. In his final 20, that number grew to more than 22 and a half, including several nights when he pushed close to 30.

The University of Michigan product is a catalyst for offense in Vancouver and will be for years to come, but he did only actually score eight goals. That was four fewer than Makar, and 22 fewer than the third finalist who comes with much less fanfare.

Kubalik arrived in Chicago as something of an unknown, after being drafted by the Los Angeles Kings seven years ago and then playing in Europe until the age of 24. It wasn’t clear if he would even be able to hang in the NHL (though frequent readers of our PHR chats will remember his name being thrown around as one to watch), but he did more than just keep his head above water. After a few early healthy scratches, Kubalik put his stamp on the Blackhawks roster with 30 goals in 68 games, with only four of those tallies coming on the powerplay. That production comes despite averaging just over 14 minutes a night, though that number was substantially higher by the end of the year when he found himself playing alongside Chicago’s top players.

The soon-to-be-25-year-old Kubalik is a deserving candidate to be sure, but there were other names that many believed should end up in the conversation as well. Adam Fox of the New York Rangers put up 42 points and was arguably the team’s best defenseman by the end of the year, while Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins was among the league leaders with a .923 save percentage in his first season.

There’s an argument to be made for many of these names, but who will you cast your vote for? Take part in the poll below and then jump into the comments to defend your decision!

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Central Notes: Khudobin, Makar, Koekkoek

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Dallas Stars backup goaltender Anton Khudobin has been a huge pickup when the team signed the veteran to a two-year, $5MM contract back in 2018. However, with that contract wrapping up, Khodobin has made it clear, he’d like to remain with the Stars. However, the Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks writes that may not be as easy as it sounds.

To begin, his NHL leading .930 save percentage (albeit in 30 games) would likely prompt a raise from the $2.5MM per season he’s making now. The best comparison would be his former home where backup Jaroslav Halak just got a $2.25MM one-year deal with a $1.25MM bonus if he plays 10 games in 2020-21. However, Khudobin is 34 years old and isn’t eligible to performance bonuses on his next contract, making it more challenging considering the team’s cap issues.

Another problem is that Khudobin would likely get more than a one-year deal on the open market and with top goaltending prospect Jake Oettinger close to being ready to being a backup to Ben Bishop (likely in 2021-22), the team may not want to stand in the youngster’s way, meaning the team may not want to bring Khudobin back on anything more than a one-year pact.

  • The Colorado Avalanche were without Calder Trophy nominee Cale Makar for Sunday’s scrimmage after the blueliner left practice early on Saturday, according to NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski. No word on why Makar left practice. Coach Jared Bednar didn’t talk to the media, but teams aren’t allowed to comment on NHL injuries anyway. Makar left before special teams skills as Samuel Girard replaced Makar on the first power-play unit. The 21-year-old scored 12 goals and 50 points in just 57 games.
  • NHL.com’s Brandon Cain reports that there has been little to no progress on a potential new contract for Chicago Blackhawks restricted free agent Slater Koekkoek. In fact, the defenseman said he wasn’t even sure if his agent has even had a conversation with general manager Stan Bowman. “I’m not sure if my agent and Stan [Bowman] have had conversations yet. I would obviously love to re-sign here in Chicago.” Koekkoek came over from Tampa Bay back in 2019 where he was having trouble breaking into the Lightning’s lineup. The 26-year-old played in a career-high 42 games with a goal and 10 points last season and could be a useful six or seventh defenseman on the Blackhawks’ roster.

NHL Announces Finalists For 2019-20 Calder Trophy

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The NHL has continued to release the finalists for their major regular season awards, this time giving us the top Calder Trophy candidates. This award is given to the top first-year player in the league and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

The finalists are: Cale Makar (COL), Quinn Hughes (VAN), Dominik Kubalik (CHI).

Makar, 21, didn’t need much of an introduction this season after making his explosive debut in the playoffs for the Colorado Avalanche last year. After putting up six points in ten postseason matches, Makar picked up right where he left off and showed he can be a dominant offensive presence right from the start. With 50 points in 57 games, he actually finished in second place among Avalanche players behind only Nathan Mackinnon. That’s an impressive feat in any year, let alone your first full season in the NHL. Makar has all the talent to be one of the elite defenders in the league, including an improving defensive game and physical edge. In many other years, he may have been a lock to take home the Calder trophy, but this season is a little bit different.

That’s because of Hughes, who actually outproduced Makar (though he played in an additional 11 games) with 53 points on the season. That total trailed only John Carlson, Roman Josi and Victor Hedman (potential Norris finalists) in league scoring among defensemen, meaning he has already reached the upper-echelon in offensive production from the back end. Given that the former Michigan Wolverine won’t turn 21 until the middle of October, you can bet that you’ll be hearing his name at the top of point charts for a long time to come. Hughes is one of the most beautiful skaters in the league, able to carry the puck effortlessly up the ice and around defenders before dishing it off to his goal-scoring teammates.

Speaking of goal-scoring forwards, Kubalik jumps onto the ballot after exploding into the NHL with a 30-goal campaign. The Czech forward was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2013 but chose instead to play overseas for six seasons. After lighting up the Czech and Swiss leagues and seeing his rights traded in the NHL, he decided to sign with the Blackhawks and immediately showed why he was so successful in Europe. A lightning-quick release and the ability to get lost in traffic, Kubalik came second among all Chicago forwards in goals and third in points. The argument against him for the Calder may be his age, but make no mistake that the 24-year old will be a force for years to come.

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