D Cale Makar - UMass (Amherst), NCAA (2017, 4th, COL)

[cgf]

Nobody cares about Buffalo either son.

It's not like he's too wrong. It's a small market team that is super secretive with the media anyway and is coming off a terrible year; plus our fanbase doesn't hit the prospect boards to hype our kids as hard as others do. Sure the future may be bright and Denver may be a lovely city that's thriving; but we're still not a media darling and after last season it's for the best that they don't pay attention to us.

I didnt read it as him being a dick i thought he was kinda criticizing the hockey world for forgetting about Makar for being drafted by a non big market team

Ditto. I'm an avs fan and I regularly make jokes about how the hockey world forgets about prospects as soon as they become avs property unless they go straight to the NHL.

 

[Stud Puffin]

Kudos for italicizing a blatantly erroneous claim, this is a level of creativity I have yet to encounter on Hfboards....

google 'AJHL NCAA commitments' and make sure you switch to the 2016-2017 season, and maybe grab a glass of water for me

I am so excited to read your response to this..."It's important to note....." what, that you have no idea what you are talking about?

Not sure you actually watched these tournament games. He didnt struggle at all defensively. He was named the MVP of them in fact. He is the only 2 time MVP of the RBC Cup in fact. Scouts raved about his play in fact.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

There's not many prospects who are getting hyped right now.

Yeah, the Leafs didn't pick top 5 this year so half of these boards(The half that are Leaf fans) have already written off every prospect in this draft before Liljegren as basically a bust.




In all seriousness, not really much reason to be hyping them up right now. We're in the truly dead era of the summer where the draft is over, development camp is done, training camp is still a while away, and not a lot of guys are on the ice much these days.



The hype for guys will ramp up once the seasons get going again and people start getting an opportunity to actually watch all of these kids play some more.

 

[S E P H]

It was just the truth.

Not that you're wrong, you're not right either - Avs aren't a small market team. They've beatin' teams like Panthers, Hurricanes, Ducks, and others in viewership and probably other aspects as well. Avs aren't a big market team either, but somewhere in between. Then add in a player who played on a non-televised team in a second tier hockey league going to a school who's been atrocious the last couple of years. It's the perfect storm to blend together and prevent Makar from getting an hype. Additionally, consider the aspect that a lot of Avs fans aren't exploring threads beyond the Avs sub-forum considering all the bashing our team has been through. So those are more of the factors than Avs being a small market.

 

[ComradeChris]

Duncan Siemens 2.0

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Duncan Siemens 2.0

They couldn't be further apart as prospects or play style.

 

[AppsSyl]

How did Makar look today? Did he standout/dictate play? Curious how he played with/against some of the peers from his draft class.

 

[biotk]

How did Makar look today? Did he standout/dictate play? Curious how he played with/against some of the peers from his draft class.

I didn't catch that game, but I am wondering why Makar is not playing for Canada today.

 

[pckstpr31]

I didn't catch that game, but I am wondering why Makar is not playing for Canada today.

I believe Button or Miller mentioned that Canada has a lot of players at camp, and so they're running a semi-split squad sort of lineup. Imagine Makar will be playing next game.

 

[cgf]

There was an avs fan there who posted on our board, here's the makar stuff he had to say:

- I missed the first period

- No Makar is not small by any means compared to his class

- He had a good second period IMO, either putting the puck toward the net, getting a shot through, or making a pass that ended up in a scoring chance. There was something positive on every shift. He defended well, didn't get beat to the net or man handled by bigger players on the wall or defending the net.

- His third period didn't go nearly as well. He got beat to the net clean at least once, fumbled at least two pucks at the wall on the blue line, didn't really create much when he had the puck, and as the period went on his frustration made him play somewhat of a reactive game.

- Makar didn't seem to be part of the core group on that team at this point.

- Makar's skating really stood out in transition

- How Makar was reading the game was highly influenced by his confidence level, which is understandable at his age and his status in Canada hockey.

- I would have liked to see him be more assertive when he got the puck in the third, but as I've already mentioned there were some obvious nerves going on. With his style, I'd hoped he'd be less concerned with making mistakes.

- Makar's more stocky build and skating style reminded me of Keith more than Karlsson.

- Makar didn't play a ton so this scrimmage has virtually no impact on my opinion of him. They definitely played harder than your average scrimmage though since some of these guys are vying for spots on the team. There was a good compete level overall.

- Makar did flash some of the skills that got him picked so high, but just as many things that make him very raw as a prospect.

He also pointed out that the ice was rough in the third, and that seemed to effect the crispness of play.

 

[AppsSyl]

How is Makar looking today? TSN isn't airing the game until 11pm, so I haven't been able to watch.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

his season next year will be massive... first time he will be pushed all year in a real good league. He could do as he pleased in Junior A for a couple years.

Extremely special player but I wouldn't be surprised if the stat watchers were slightly disappointed next season... could be a bit of a learning curve. Fabbro was kind of the same way... dominated junior A and was a high pick but finally played at a high league at BU and had a bit of a learning curve year. Fabbro will be a complete stud next season at BU though

Avs have a VERY special player but IMO fans will need to be patient

 

[CoachBadkitten]

Crazy good 3rd period tonight. You can see what scouts saw in this kid for sure. Was all over the ice, speed helped him defend and jump up, rocket of a shot and the effort defending the empty net was great.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

How is Makar looking today? TSN isn't airing the game until 11pm, so I haven't been able to watch.

He's good .. best D / QB on the team

he's one of their top players no question

 

[Chainshot]

He's good .. best D / QB on the team

he's one of their top players no question

Agreed. He looked very strong in all aspects.

 

[Guy Gadowsky]

Makar has his work cut out for him as Amherst are a trash heap

 

[portamoral]

easily the best D (and player) canada has. no way he doesn't make the team, should be a lock

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Pretty crazy to see how his game adapted against the top JR players despite the competition he's spent the last two years playing against. NCAA is going to be a tough transition but the last week makes me confident he'll figure it out.

He looks awesome out there.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Count me as another who saw the "special" in Makar. For him to jump up in competition like that, and be dominant by the end of it? Special. Definitely has star upside.

 

[Avsblitzkrieg]

I'm glad he didn't look out of place and his d game didnt look bad. He's gonna need some extra time how much I'm not sure but where he's going to school is gonna help him work on his d that much more. It's still early

 

[Mr Hockey]

He looks like a future #1 dman ... impressed

 

[AvsCOL]

This was a big test for him and I thought he did very well. Obviously not putting a ton of stock in August hockey, but his skating is truly phenomenal. I see no reason he can't be a top-2 D in future, and powerplay QB.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Makar has his work cut out for him as Amherst are a trash heap

Why is the kid going to such a poor program? Is there no way for him to pick a different school at this point?

 

[Tralfamadore]

Why is the kid going to such a poor program? Is there no way for him to pick a different school at this point?

He made the commitment to UMass-Amherst quite awhile ago and has remained loyal to his commitment to them.

There has also been a lot of turnover at UMass-Amherst both in the player roster and coaching staff so while I don't think they will be a strong team given the division they play in, they may still not be the dumpster fire they have been in the past. We'll see soon enough. At least Cale will be getting lots of ice team and facing some of the best competition in the NCAA.

 

[S E P H]

Why is the kid going to such a poor program? Is there no way for him to pick a different school at this point?

That poster keeps going around spouting nonsense. UMass-Amherst was a very poor team in the past, but got a great freshman class and have a brand new coaching regime.

Any issues surrounding UMass is that they're wildcard and we don't know what's going to happen. However, getting Ferraro, Makar, Albrecht, Lagunov and Murray will improve any program even if it is UMass or North Dakota.