Can the Avalanche win without Cale Makar?
The Colorado Avalanche might’ve been one of the best teams during the regular season, but they are a much different-looking squad without one of their best players.
It was announced that defenseman Cale Makar will once again be out of the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Calgary native already missed the first game of the Western Conference Final, which saw the Avalanche fall 4-2, relinquishing home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The big question now for the Avs is whether they can get back in the series without the Norris Trophy winner. They certainly have the weapons to score, but the stable blue line was shaken a little bit with Makar watching from the press box.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss whether Colorado can get back in the series without Makar.
Carter Hutton: I do think they can. I think if you go back to Game 1, how well Carter Hart played, the offense that was created…I think you can get through it. I think your concern now, if you’re Colorado, if you could put a percentage on what Cale Makar is – if he’s 70%, 80% – he’s obviously valuable. He could come in there, and maybe he loses the ability to score for you, but he can still pass and make plays, and his feet work and eat up minutes.
Then it’s running the risk of another injury. Teams aren’t stupid, right? You have to understand that every single time a puck is gonna get dumped into his corner, somebody is gonna finish him. It’s gonna be constant hammering. Now, you run the risk of. If we can extend this a few more days and give him a bit of rest, can we get him back to a place where it’s a little bit more sustainable? These are the tough decisions that go into these playoff times when you have a star player like that.
I do think Colorado’s a good enough team to win without him, but it definitely changes the whole outcome of this series and the pressure that it puts on a lot of other players.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…