CALGARY, Alberta — The grounded Cale Makar won’t make waves with Avalanche. Character counts in hockey, and the Avs wouldn’t have introduced Makar to the lineup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs if they thought he would disrupt locker-room chemistry.
Makar, 20, didn’t play in a single shift in Colorado’s 82-game regular season but is now a top-four defenseman for a team that is uniquely deep at the position. He and the Avs are 3-0 together during a stretch Sam Girard, also 20 and a big part of the Avs’ blue-line, was said to be scratched because of injury.