Season Recap: Cale Makar

Another year, another brilliant season from Cale Makar. For the first time in his illustrious career, Makar reached the 90-point mark, scoring 21 goals and 69 assists in 77 regular-season games while adding five goals and 10 assists in 11 playoff games in 2023-24.

For the fourth time in his career, Makar is a finalist for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL's top defenseman.

Makar’s 69 assists and 90 points were the most in a single season by an Avalanche defenseman, and thanks to his brilliant campaign, he now ranks first among defensemen in franchise history in career goals and assists in both the regular season and playoffs. He was also the cover athlete for NHL 24.

In addition to franchise records, Makar is putting himself in legendary company. He posted 0.75 assists-per-game for the fourth-straight season, becoming the first defenseman in league history to do so since Hall of Famer Paul Coffey from 1981-82 to 1995-96. His 1.11 points-per-game in the playoffs for his career is the second-best mark among blueliners, trailing Hall of Famer Bobby Orr (1.24). In his regular-season career, Makar's 1.07 points-per-game is third among defenders in league history behind Coffey (1.09) and Orr (1.39), minimum 300 games played.

Makar scored at least one point in 51 of the 77 regular-season games he played in this season and posted 12 multi-game point streaks, highlighted by two eight-game point streaks, one from Nov. 7-22, 2023, and one from Jan. 15-Feb. 6, 2024.

In the final game of his two-game point streak from March 4-6, Makar scored his first-career hat trick in a 7-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. His four-point effort that night was also one of the 27 multi-point games Makar registered in the regular season.

Entering the 2024-25 season, Makar has three years remaining on his contract. He's 14 goals from 100 for his career, 50 assists from 300, and 64 points from 400. He's also 79 points from passing Valeri Kamensky for 14th on the franchise's all-time scoring list and 93 points from passing Matt Duchene for 13th place.