A potential Cale Makar injury would be another big blow for the Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar left Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken and everyone surrounding the team is now holding their breath. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar confirmed after the game that Makar left because he ‘tweaked something’, and evaluations will begin to navigate the full extent of his injury.
The incident occurred in the second period, as Makar was seen trying to make a tight turn in the corner, and then came up distraught, and began to flex his right leg. Makar has been on a tear this season, registering 23 points in his first 13 games, and with all the injury troubles in Colorado, losing Makar for any period of time will be a tough mountain to climb.
Add Makar to the likes of forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Drouin, Ross Colton, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, Miles Wood, and defenseman Tucker Poolman, who have all missed extended periods of time this season, with several still unavailable for action.
On Wednesday’s Daily Faceoff LIVE episode, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed Makar’s injury and what type of impact losing him could make on the Avs’ lineup.
Yaremchuk: Let’s move to another injury, and a scary one if you’re a Colorado Avalanche fan. I mean, they went out and got the win, Nathan MacKinnon was fantastic, and we’ll talk about all of that in a second, but Cale Makar leaves the game Frank. It’s been labelled as an undisclosed injury. Jared Bednar said Makar “tweaked something” in the second period. He was off to a fantastic start and the Avs have needed it because there’s not a lot else going well for them so far this season. And, that is what makes this potential injury all the more worrisome.
Seravalli: This sucks for the league. I mean, look at these numbers – 23 points in 13 games. I know it’s still early, that’s a 145-point pace for a season. I just want everyone to understand how absolutely insane and ridiculous this has been from Makar. This is like, to this point in the season, it has been one of the all-world of all-time seasons by an NHL defenseman. That’s how good he’s been.
It’s all been a three-man team essentially for the Colorado Avalanche. It’s MacKinnon, Makar and (Mikko) Rantanen, that’s it. Their roster has been so thin, they’ve been decimated by injuries, so they can’t catch a break. I think the unfortunate part for the Avalanche is that this is a, or maybe fortunate, depends how you look at it, a non-contact injury. You could see him flexing his leg. So obviously something muscular. We’ll see what that means from a longer-term perspective. But, the fact he can’t come out for the third period, and a guy who plays 24 minutes a night was limited to 15, this is exactly what you don’t want to see if you’re (GM) Chris MacFarland or (President) Joe Sakic.
For more on Makar’s injury, Dylan Holloway’s status in St. Louis and the rest of the latest buzz from around the NHL, watch the full episode here.