Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were out of the lineup tonight for the Colorado Avalanche, and yet they boxed the Montréal Canadiens out all night and won 4-2. The Avs are having a sub-par season so far, sitting third in the Central Division, and playing without one of the best forwards and the best defenseman in the league will not be conducive to winning games, as proven by their sweep at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights last playoffs.
Makar's career path often sees him compared to Bobby Orr, winner of eight Norris trophies, one of only six defensemen with 100-point seasons. Makar already has two Norrises and has been a finalist in each of his other NHL seasons except his rookie year, where he "only" won the Calder as Rookie Of The Year; he's been a First Team All-Star four times (2020-21, 2021-22, 2024-25 and 2025-26), and Second Team All-Star twice (2022-23 and 2023-24); he won the Conn Smythe when the Avs won the Stanley Cup in 2022; he has more than a point-per-game stat line in the regular season (530 in 489), and is 90-for-90 in the playoffs.
It took Orr 279 games to reach the 300-point mark, while Makar did it in 280; the road to 400 widened the gap (333 games for Orr, 359 for Paul Coffey, 374 for Makar), as did the road to 500 (396 for Orr, 422 for Coffey, 465 for Denis Potvin and 467 for Makar), though Makar is considered stronger on the defensive side than Coffey or Potvin were. And just being in such company, in an era with comparables like Quinn Hughes, Lane Hutson and Zach Werenski, while Victor Hedman is still active, is impressive in and of itself.
He is also one of just three men to win the Norris and Conn Smythe in the same season, joining Orr (1969-70 and 1971-72) and Nicklas Lidstrom (2001-02). Here he is wearing the Avalanche's alternate jersey, on the magenta printing plate card #US-21 version of his 2024-25 MVP / Under The Scope card by Upper Deck:
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