The postmortem on the Colorado Avalanche’s playoff sweep quickly turned to injuries — but that storyline may not be holding up as strongly as first believed, especially around Cale Makar.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said the Norris Trophy-winning defenseman’s status for the start of next season could be uncertain.
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“I’ve heard his injury is pretty significant,” Friedman said on his podcast. “And I know some people have been wondering, will he be ready for the start of next year? I guess we’ll find all that out, but I just don’t think that that’s the reason here. I think it’s more of an excuse than anything else.”
After Makar was seen attending a Colorado Eagles playoff game without a sling or any visible signs of a serious injury, speculation naturally followed about whether the severity of the reported issue had been overstated.
There is no definitive way to confirm that either way, but Joe Sakic offered some clarity Thursday at Family Sports, pushing back on any concern about lingering health issues heading into next season. He said the organization expects a fully healthy group when training camp opens.
“Everybody is going to be at training camp and 100%,” Sakic said. “Nobody going to miss any time.”
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That doesn’t mean the Avalanche weren’t dealing with real injuries during the series against Vegas. Artturi Lehkonen, Sam Malinski, Brent Burns, Nathan MacKinnon and Makar were all managing something in some capacity, which, at this point in the season, is more standard reality than exception around the league.
Makar, meanwhile, finished the postseason with five points in 11 games after a 79-point regular season — a playoff total that matched the lowest production of his career in any postseason run, including years in which Colorado exited in the opening round.
It’s the part of hockey that rarely gets romanticized — the stretch where everyone is playing through something, and excuses only carry so much weight after the final whistle. Much like a fighter stepping into a world title bout after a punishing camp, there’s rarely such a thing as perfect health in late spring. And once the result is decided, explanations tend to land hollow.
The reality is the Avalanche were beaten — cleanly — by a Vegas team that neutralized their speed, clogged their lanes, and punished mistakes with ruthless efficiency, which is exactly how the Golden Knights are built to operate.
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As Sakic noted Thursday, it was four games, and a rough four games at that. But it doesn’t erase what came before. Colorado still finished the regular season with a Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top team, a distinction that matters even if it doesn’t soften playoff disappointment. The last club to win both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season remains the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks.
And in today’s playoff structure — where elite teams often collide early and the path to June feels more like survival than progression — it increasingly becomes a last-man-standing tournament. Right now, that’s exactly where the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes find themselves, preparing for Game 6 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
For Colorado, though, it’s time to reset, recharge, and let the sting fade just enough to start the process all over again.
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