After scoring his 30th goal of the season in the Avalanche’s bout against the Blue Jackets last night, Cale Makar writes his name into the history books by becoming the first 30 goal scoring defenseman in the NHL since 2009. Only eight other defenseman have reached the magic 30 in an NHL season, the last being the Capitals Mike Green in 2009, but at only 26, Makar has many more to come.
Cale Makar is arguably the best defenseman in the NHL right now, and is well on his way to win his second Norris trophy of his career, but is also well on his way to the NHL Hall Of Fame. The 26 year old defenseman has matched his tally from last season of 90 points on the season, but hitting the 30 goal mark on the season for the first time is already outlining how he will have a Hall Of Fame career, and could be tipped as one of the best defensemen the NHL has ever seen.
Makar, who was drafted fourth overall in 2017 has had an impressive first five seasons in the NHL, putting up 426 goals, a Norris trophy, and a Stanley Cup to his name, already projecting Hall Of Fame credentials. But with how Makar has changed the culture and identity of the defenseman position in the NHL, and how he has already jumped into a major leadership role only five years into his career, Makar should have no doubts over his future inclusion to the HOF, and will definitely have the numbers to prove it.
With already one Stanley Cup to his name, and a future captaincy waiting for him in Colorado, the 26 year old can definitely already be talked about in the GOAT defenseman discussion, and with years of improvement to come, it can only get more and more exciting, not only for Avalanche fans, but for NHL fans as a whole.
Scoring 116 goals in 392 games, Makar sits only 294 goals behind who can be seen as the greatest defenseman of all time Ray Bourque, with hundreds of games left to play. With the statistics Makar is projected, the achievements he could easily win including an abundance of Norris Trophies, and potentially more Stanley Cup’s in the near future, Makar HAS to be talked about as a HOF lock, and can easily already be disputed as on of the NHL’s future greatest ever defenseman .
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