{"id":676479,"date":"2026-05-31T18:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/676479\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T18:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:55:10","slug":"avalanche-should-listen-to-trade-offers-for-everybody-but-cale-makar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/676479\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalanche should listen to trade offers for everybody but Cale Makar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cale for sale is an epic fail. An Avalanche defense without Cale Makar<\/a> is unthinkable.<\/a> An Avs offense without No. 8 would be unwatchable.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a player, you\u2019re going to have stretches where you\u2019re not on the scoresheet and where (Makar) could still be helping the team,\u201d TNT analyst and former NHL center Eddie Olczyk<\/a> told me earlier this month. \u201cAnd where Cale could still be having an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

To put it another way: How much did you enjoy seeing Colorado, minus Makar, struggle to score three goals over Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Final?<\/a><\/p>\n

Look, we get it. Yes, the Avs are tiptoeing into salary-cap Hades.<\/a> Yes, Makar is due for a contract extension as soon as July 1. Yes, that extension will probably be worth anywhere from $15-17 million per season \u2014 a healthy bump from the $9-million cap hit Makar commanded in \u201925-26.<\/p>\n

The Avs need cap space. They need draft picks. They need to get younger and fresher on the ice. They need more roster flexibility off it.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s workshop this. No bad ideas.<\/p>\n

Trade Makar!<\/p>\n

OK, except for that one.<\/p>\n

With an aging lineup and a shrinking Stanley Cup window, it\u2019s definitely time to think outside the box. It\u2019s not time to think outside your mind.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week hurt. Vegas hurt.<\/a> Be angry. Be vigilant. Just don\u2019t be silly. Any executive shopping Makar should be exiled to Ogallala.<\/a><\/p>\n

In NHL history, only 30 times has a defenseman scored 28 or more goals in a season.<\/a> Makar had already done it twice by the age of 27. He won\u2019t turn 30 until October 2028. Just get a load of the other names on the list to pull that off multiple times: Paul Coffey (seven times), Bobby Orr (six), Al MacInnis (three), Dennis Potvin (three) and Phil Housley (twice).<\/p>\n

Trade Makar for draft picks!<\/p>\n

Who let Jeff Bridich in here?<\/a><\/p>\n

Depth matters in the postseason. A lot. The old adage that you go as far as your top two lines in the regular season and as far as your bottom two in the playoffs still holds up. Brock Nelson, Artturi Lehkonen, Nicolas Roy and Logan O\u2019Connor, all of whom provided some juice against the Kings and Wild, combined for zero goals and one point against Vegas. One lousy point.<\/p>\n

That said, anyone who tells you that a team can\u2019t win a Stanley Cup with multiple players making $10 million or more isn\u2019t your friend. For one, the salary cap is a moving target. For another, Florida won back-to-back titles with Aleksander Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky on eight-figure cap hits. Those same Golden Knights that just sent the Avs packing have Mitch Marner taking up a $12-million hit, and Jack Eichel eating up another $10 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus, two words: Mikko Rantanen.<\/p>\n

But we won the trade!<\/p>\n

Did you, though?<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Necas (88) of the Colorado Avalanche waits for a face off against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Martin Necas is one of the few forwards, granted, who can skate with Nathan MacKinnon at full tilt. No. 88 reads the game well. He also can spend so much time looking for the perfect pass that whole shifts pass him by.<\/p>\n

The Marty Party produced one postseason goal in 2026. He\u2019s put up two goals over 20 playoff games (with 16 helpers) for Colorado so far. He\u2019s due to cost you $11.5 million in every cap year through 2033-34.<\/p>\n

To general manager Chris MacFarland\u2019s credit, he\u2019s tried to avoid a roster that becomes too top-heavy, too Oilers South, with MacKinnon accounting for a $12.6-milion cap number and raises for Necas and Makar looming. But moving Cale just to stay in that neighborhood would be sheer Looney Tunes.<\/p>\n

Even a shallow dive into the metrics makes Makar critics look all wet. No. 8 has strung together arguably his two least-impactful postseasons, back-to-back, in \u201924-25 and \u201925-26, largely due to injury. And yet, per NaturalStatTrick.com<\/a>, he still logged 456 minutes and change in front of the Lumberyard tandem of Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood in goal. When No. 8 has been on the ice over the Avs\u2019 last 20 playoff games, Colorado\u2019s giving up 1.97 goals per 60 minutes in all strengths. With Makar on the bench, the Avs have allowed 2.92 goals per 60. That\u2019s a difference of a goal per game in regulation \u2014 even before you factor in the offensive side of Makar\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n

Among NHL defensive tandems this postseason that have played at least 30 minutes together, according to MoneyPuck.com,<\/a> the Makar-Devon Toews pairing still ranks fifth overall among playoff expected goals percentage (64%, with eight expected goals for and 4.5 goals expected against). That\u2019s up from 13th a year ago (58.5%, 6.2 expected goals for and 4.4 against) and 14th in \u201923-24 (58.3%, 6.3 expected goals for and 4.5 against).<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the (heart) of the matter is, the numbers are what they are,\u201d Olcyzk said of Makar. \u201cHis impact \u2014 they have such a deep team, they\u2019re going to be able to get contributions in points from a lot of different guys. But he is always going to have an impact, and you always have to account for him, if you\u2019re the other team. It\u2019s just a matter of time before he gets on that heater and he has a four-or five-point game.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a fine blue line between stupid and clever.<\/a> The Avalanche, however wounded, however shamed, however desperate, surely know better than to cross it.<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n

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