Prospect Info: Cale Makar - D [4th Overall] Part III: Not A Prospect Edition

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GoNordiquesGo

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Oct 1, 2016
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Let not overrate his defensive game yet. But I agree that he improved that aspect a lot throughout the year. I recall he badly missed a few coverages early on but it seemed to happen a lot less as the year went on.
 

McMetal

Writer of Wrongs
Sep 29, 2015
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He's certainly got a lot of room to improve, but he has the skating, IQ, and most importantly the commitment to play defense well in the NHL. Ironically, that was my biggest fear about him as a prospect in 2017. He wouldn't have the tools to be able to be a two-way force in the NHL. I definitely underestimated both his incredible hockey brain and his dedication to small details and a complete game.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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He's certainly got a lot of room to improve, but he has the skating, IQ, and most importantly the commitment to play defense well in the NHL. Ironically, that was my biggest fear about him as a prospect in 2017. He wouldn't have the tools to be able to be a two-way force in the NHL. I definitely underestimated both his incredible hockey brain and his dedication to small details and a complete game.

Bednar’s talked about how coachable he is and that’s a big part of growing as a player.

Like you said, he definitely still needs to improve in his own zone, but I never expected him to be as far along as he is defensively at this point.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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Totally agree. I've never seen a defenseman as good with the puck as Makar in all my life either. Not even Karlsson or Doughty. He's just so dynamic that he can generate goals in all kinds of ways, and genuinely has that Forsberg unstoppable vibe to him sometimes.

That's because there are things that separate him from other speedy PMD's. He has a power element to his game when he's skating. Not as much as MacKinnon, but it's similar. Guys try to close off on him when he's flying with the puck and he just powers through the check sometimes and keeps going.

This means the typical approach to dealing with PMD's like him (physical play and big runs to get under his skin) won't work nearly as well because he'll just burn you in these situations too.

The biggest thing separating him from other PMD's though is he can finish the play. He's just a gamer you can see it. He'll shine on big stages and come up with clutch goals when the rest of the team is struggling. Other PMD's will outskate the opposition, make a dangle, and then not score. Cale puts the puck in the net because he's so dialed in mentally.

It's his strong mental approach, competitive nature, and work ethic to keep getting better, that separates him from other naturally talented defenseman.

This is actually an area I think Makar can improve.

The half-clapper off the rush would be a nice addition to his game, you don’t see him use that a lot.

He would also be well served in going to the school of Mikko Rantanen to help him improve his backhand on the rush.

Finishing on breakaways is an area where I see more skill from Dahlin.



What Makar is a marvel at is making plays at speed and seeing the ice at high speed. You can even go back to his first goal in the NHL. Watch for the head turn at the 3 second mark in the neutral zone. He already knows that he’s going to get the puck and he wants to see how much space he has to make a play.

He also protects the puck like a forward. You can tell he’s a guy that’s had the puck on his stick a hell of a lot at all levels of hockey.

 
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Foppa2118

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This is actually an area I think Makar can improve.

The half-clapper off the rush would be a nice addition to his game, you don’t see him use that a lot.

He would also be well served in going to the school of Mikko Rantanen to help him improve his backhand on the rush.

Finishing on breakaways is an area where I see more skill from Dahlin.



What Makar is a marvel at is making plays at speed and seeing the ice at high speed. You can even go back to his first goal in the NHL. Watch for the head turn at the 3 second mark in the neutral zone. He already knows that he’s going to get the puck and he wants to see how much space he has to make a play.

He also protects the puck like a forward. You can tell he’s a guy that’s had the puck on his stick a hell of a lot at all levels of hockey.



He can improve sure but he's better at finishing plays than most any other defenseman. If you look at his highlight reel of goals this year it's a highlight reel of flashy plays AND goals. For lots of guys it's just the flashy dangle but not the finish. Or maybe one flashy finish a year.

He definitely can get better though that's why he led the league in posts+crossbars hit by defenseman. Every rookie needs to work on their accuracy and focus though.

Breakaways are a slightly different thing. It's so different than most other parts of hockey where you're trying to generate goals against the opposition. It's a different skillset. Like being a PP specialist or a SO specialist.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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He can improve sure but he's better at finishing plays than most any other defenseman. If you look at his highlight reel of goals this year it's a highlight reel of flashy plays AND goals. For lots of guys it's just the flashy dangle but not the finish. Or maybe one flashy finish a year.

He definitely can get better though that's why he led the league in posts+crossbars hit by defenseman. Every rookie needs to work on their accuracy and focus though.

Breakaways are a slightly different thing. It's so different than most other parts of hockey where you're trying to generate goals against the opposition. It's a different skillset. Like being a PP specialist or a SO specialist.

Oh, for sure. He knows how to get to scoring areas and knows what to do once he gets there. That’s the mark of a great offensive player. A lot of the time all it takes for the defence to breakdown is to make one guy miss and Makar is a wizard at doing that.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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Awesome highlight reel



Damn, that was really good. Thanks for sharing.

1. I still can’t believe all of that came from 57 games of a rookie season. Absolutely insane.

2. His secondary assists really highlight his ability to push the pace in transition.

3. RIP Jordan Greenway at 6:31 :laugh::laugh:
 
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Northern Avs Fan

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That needs to be posted in the overrated thread and/or the Laf poll.

I got you.

I’ll drop it in the overrated thread.

upload_2020-7-6_23-25-24.gif
 

Ceremony

blahem
Jun 8, 2012
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I wish we could have a real life Sliding Doors moment:

Makar wins the Calder: This board goes 'woo,' the Canucks board literally melts
Hughes wins the Calder: This board goes 'oh well,' the Canucks board literally melts
 

Ararana

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Sep 22, 2013
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Button, Friedman, and a few other Canadian media guys admitted to voting for Hughes, I wonder why :sarcasm:


I have to say I wonder if Makar being such a big name in the Boston area (UMass) is going to help him with some of the East coast guys.
 

MarkT

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Nov 11, 2017
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I honestly don't mind if Hughes wins it. We know how good Makar is - a trophy doesn't change that. If anything not winning it might serve as a tiny bit of extra motivation for him to get better and prove the voters wrong. Meanwhile, winning might play some small role in contract negotiations down the line.

It would be pretty cool though if both Makar and MacKinnon won awards this year to go with the Conn Smythe and the Cup.
 

Foppa2118

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Oct 3, 2003
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If Hughes wins I hope we play Vancouver and crush them.

I'd like to see that. We'd find out pretty quick which player is more multi dimensional, and which one is easier to shut down.

I wonder if Hughes would react to the physicality of Kadri and Landeksog in a 7 game series, similar to how Gaudreau reacted last year.
 
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MarkT

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I'd like to see that. We'd find out pretty quick which player is more multi dimensional, and which one is easier to shut down.

I wonder if Hughes would react to the physicality of Kadri and Landeksog in a 7 game series, similar to how Gaudreau reacted last year.

By hooking guys when the ref isn't looking, diving to draw penalties, and constantly whining, even during the lineup to shake hands? I'd hope Hughes is a bit classier than that.

(I'm currently rewatching the Calgary series. It must take some serious cognitive dissonance from Calgary fans to actually cheer for Gaudreau)
 
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henchman21

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By hooking guys when the ref isn't looking, diving to draw penalties, and constantly whining, even during the lineup to shake hands? I'd hope Hughes is a bit classier than that.

(I'm currently rewatching the Calgary series. It must take some serious cognitive dissonance from Calgary fans to actually cheer for Gaudreau)

I mean... Foppa did all of that and we all love him.
 
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