Colorado Avalanche
Cale Makar may not be ready for training camp when the Avalanche have their first on-ice session Thursday. The defenseman is dealing with a lower-body injury. Makar had 79 points (20 goals, 59 assists) and averaged 24:51 of ice time in 75 regular-season games last season, and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best defenseman in the NHL.
Makar, who signed an eight-year, $163.2 million contract Aug. 28 which begins next season,missed two games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season because of an upper-body injury.
“He’s been on the ice. He’s just on a little bit of a lighter program than probably most of our guys coming into main camp,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. “So we’ll see how that sort of sorts out. Whether he’s ready to go Day 1 of training camp is probably unlikely. Just kind of playing it safe with him and our organization, but at some point in camp he’ll be full go. I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about at this point. It’s not related to the injury he had last year in the playoffs. It’s just something new that popped up here with training.”