CENTENNIAL — No need to panic, Avalanche fans—Cale Makar is right where he belongs.
One of the offseason’s most frivolous questions was finally put to rest Tuesday morning, when the Avalanche’s fan favorite and two-time Norris Trophy winner glided onto the ice alongside Brent Burns and Marty Necas.
Makar wasted no time, opening the session with a focused puck-and-stickhandling drill before the team divided into two groups, with forwards and defensemen skating to opposite ends of the ice.
Both sides
started with 2-on-1 drills. In Makar’s showcase, he took on Burns and Devon Toews, who also joined the skate at roughly the same time. Makar pressured Burns into making a pass before forcing Toews to shoot earlier than expected, causing the puck to go wide of the net.
During his next opportunity, Makar remained in the same position as he squared off against Burns and Keaton Middleton, who has been working extremely hard this offseason, which has been well documented by Mile High Hockey throughout the last several weeks. Middleton, though, managed to get a good shot off that rang off the post.
Once both groups had finished their drills, the ice was cleared for a full scrimmage. In white jerseys, a blend of Avalanche regulars—among them Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen—skated alongside a contingent of AHL players, squaring off against fellow starters clad in blue practice sweaters.
Makar Is Back
Though still easing back into rhythm, Makar found himself at the center of nearly every sequence—including a tense moment at center ice when he collided with Jack Ahcan while battling for a loose puck. The impact jarred his stick free, but Makar’s instincts took over; he surged ahead, kicking the puck down the ice to captain Gabe Landeskog. As Landeskog scanned the neutral zone for an outlet, Makar calmly retrieved his stick and rejoined the play without missing a beat.
That, my friends, is the portrait of a player ready to return—not someone hiding in the shadows, as certain corners of social media would have you believe. Rumors, after all, gain traction when repeated often enough, sparking unnecessary tension. The same whispers recently surrounded Necas, despite the fact that he was busy running his annual hockey camp in Czechia. In the end, the skeptics were, quite literally, ‘Czeched.’
Anyway, back to the combined scrimmage.
Makar demonstrated a team-first approach throughout the scrimmage, prioritizing opportunities for his teammates over solo drives to the net. Several of his passes to Landeskog failed to produce goals, yet the creativity and on-ice chemistry were unmistakable. He eventually broke through toward the end of the session, finishing a beautifully orchestrated play that began with Brock Nelson feeding Landeskog through the neutral zone. Landeskog cut across the ice, pivoted, and found Makar streaking down the right wing. Makar received the pass and, against a tenacious Trent Miner—who had been a brick wall all scrimmage—slotted the puck five-hole to open the scoring.
Meanwhile, Nelson continues to integrate seamlessly with his new teammates as he prepares for his first full-time season with Colorado following his midseason acquisition last year. He was among the first on the ice for the optional skate, alongside Burns and Samuel Girard, who has been absent for several weeks. But we’ll leave it at that—no need to give Avalanche fans another heart attack.
In other notables, Zakhar Bardakov and Ross Colton also found the net during the scrimmage.
A perennial critique of the Avalanche in recent seasons has been their reliance on short-term rentals and mercenaries rather than cultivating the depth and camaraderie that underpinned the 2022 Stanley Cup triumph. Yet with largely the same core roster returning, complemented by a few new faces, the outlook entering the 2025–26 season is decidedly promising.
