Lightning Activate Declan Carlile
The Tampa Bay Lightning have activated defenseman Declan Carlile off of long-term injured reserve in advance of tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, according to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.
Carlile, 25, has been sidelined since March 12 with a lower-body injury. Before his injury, Carlile was in the midst of the strongest season of his career at the professional level. The former Merrimack College rearguard has flown past his prior career highs in terms of NHL games played, skating in 38 games for the Lightning this season.
Tampa Bay has developed Carlile into a valuable AHL player, and their work in growing his game has begun to bear fruit for their NHL squad. While he’s still a depth contributor for the Lightning, averaging under 15 minutes of ice time per game, he has shown some promise as a shutdown blueliner. Head coach Jon Cooper has even begun to give him some time on the penalty kill.
Set to hit restricted free agency this summer, Carlile has a big opportunity ahead of him in what remains of the season. If he can find a way to get into Cooper’s lineup in the games left in the regular season, or perhaps even crack the team’s playoff lineup, he could further increase his odds of landing a solid contract extension this summer.
This season, Carlile has played on a two-way contract with a $250K AHL salary and $350K guarantee. Given the steps forward Carlile has taken this year, it seems entirely possible, if not likely, that he’ll earn the first one-way NHL contract of his career this summer. Before he gets to that point, though, he’ll need to finish this season with the Lightning in a strong fashion.
Sabres’ Alex Lyon Suffers Lower-Body Injury
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon strained a lower-body muscle during yesterday’s morning skate and will be re-evaluated in a week, head coach Lindy Ruff announced today. According to Ruff, there is a chance Lyon, who leads Sabres goaltenders in games played this season, will not be fit to return in time for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Lyon’s injury throws into question who will start in net for the first game of the Sabres’ long-awaited return to the playoffs. As previously mentioned, Lyon has played the most for the team among its goalies this season, with 36 games compared to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen‘s 34.
Luukkonen has outperformed Lyon by a slim margin in terms of the box score statistics this season, posting a .909 save percentage and 2.53 goals-against average. Lyon has a .907 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average this season, slightly lower than Luukkonen on both counts. But Lyon has the advantage in terms of goals saved above expected, as tracked by Natural Stat Trick.
Since the calendar flipped to 2026, things have been headed more in the direction of Luukkonen. He’s played in 21 games compared to Lyon’s 15 in the new year, and has a .910 save percentage compared to Lyon’s .906 in that span. It could be that, even not factoring in Lyon’s injury, Ruff was already more likely to begin the team’s playoff run with Luukkonen in the crease, rather than Lyon. Today’s injury news has only furthered that likelihood.
It is worth mentioning, though, that the one area where Lyon has a clear advantage over Luukkonen is an important one: playoff experience. Luukkonen hasn’t backstopped a team on a playoff run since his days in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, which was back in the 2018-19 season. Lyon, on the other hand, has a more extensive, and more recent, track record in the postseason. He put up a .944 save percentage in 11 playoff games in 2017-18 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and backstopped the Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup championship in 2021-22, posting a .923 save percentage on their run.
Lyon has even won a playoff game in the NHL. He was the starter for the Panthers in the first three games of their run in the 2023 playoffs, winning the second game of the series in Boston. While he eventually lost the starting role to star Sergei Bobrovsky, he nonetheless got valuable playoff experience, something Luukkonen doesn’t yet have. Whether that will factor into Ruff’s decision-making later this month remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Lyon’s injury means Luukkonen is overwhelmingly likely to be the one in the crease when the Sabres begin their first playoff trip in over a decade.
Hurricanes Assign Ivan Ryabkin To AHL
The Chicago Wolves, AHL affiliates of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that prospect forward Ivan Ryabkin has been reassigned to the team from his junior club. Ryabkin had been playing for the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL, whose season ended on April 7 when they fell in a seven-game first-round playoff series against the Quebec Ramparts.
Ryabkin actually began his 2025-26 season in the AHL with the Wolves. He signed his entry-level contract on August 27 and just over a month later, was reassigned by the Hurricanes to the AHL as part of a round of training camp cuts. Ryabkin had a slow start to his season in the AHL, scoring just one point in his first six games. Through the end of the calendar year, Ryabkin played a limited role in Chicago, and only managed seven points in 25 games, to go alongside 56 penalty minutes.
When the calendar flipped to 2026, Ryabkin and the Hurricanes decided to make a change in where he played in order to spark some momentum in his development. Ryabkin was loaned to the QMJHL’s Islanders, where he found his groove, scoring 13 goals and 42 points in just 20 games. He also added four goals and nine points in six playoff games, but missed the third game of the series against Quebec after he was suspended for abuse of officials.
Now back in Chicago, Ryabkin will re-join the pro ranks with some real wind in his sails. He was undeniably valuable in the QMJHL, with his unique blend of physical aggression and offensive skill proving to be quite the handful for QMJHL opponents to try to handle. The key next step in his development will be translating that success to the pro game, which he’ll eventually need to do if he wants to make it to the NHL.
Without question, Ryabkin will be one of the most interesting prospects in the AHL to track. He has shown himself to be an extremely talented young forward at times, especially in the Russian junior circuit. But it is also important to recognize that Ryabkin has also been subject to skepticism from scouts in the public sphere who aren’t sure he’ll be able to deliver on his talent and make it to the NHL.
Last month, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler outlined some of the concerns Ryabkin has faced thus far as a prospect. According to Wheeler, who ranked Ryabkin as the No. 6 prospect in Carolina’s system, there has been “talk of [Ryabkin] being difficult to coach” and Ryabkin “interviewed poorly with NHL teams and received heavy criticism for his fitness and weight.”
Wheeler did also note that Ryabkin “remains a talent” and added that “it’s hard to find centers with his skill and offensive instincts/intuition” in the second round of the draft. He concluded by saying the 18-year-old is “going to have to prove himself every step of the way” on his path to the NHL.
With today’s transaction, Ryabkin has rejoined the AHL. There, he will resume the process of developing his game and proving that he can, at some point in the future, translate his talent into NHL value for the Hurricanes.
Islanders Notes: DeAngelo, Nurmi, Salo
New York Islanders veteran defenseman Tony DeAngelo will return to the lineup for tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, new head coach Peter DeBoer told the media today. DeAngelo has been out since March 24 with a lower-body injury, and has missed the team’s last six games. A lot has changed for New York since DeAngelo last played. At that time, the Islanders were tied with the Ottawa Senators, who occupied the second wild-card playoff spot, in points, and were just one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for third and second place in the Metropolitan Division, respectively. Just over two weeks later, the Islanders are not only three points adrift of a playoff spot, but they also have a new face behind the bench in DeBoer.
Getting DeAngelo back from injury will give DeBoer an additional option to work with as he constructs the team’s defense for his first game in charge. Per The Hockey News’ Stefen Rosner, DeAngelo will slot in on DeBoer’s second pairing, alongside veteran shutdown defenseman Adam Pelech. The 30-year-old has had an up-and-down career in the NHL, oscillating between entrenching himself in lineups thanks to his offensive production, and losing his footing due to defensive deficiencies coaches couldn’t overlook. After spending the early portion of last season in the KHL, DeAngelo returned to the NHL to sign with the Islanders, and seems to have found a steady role on Long Island. While the emergence of star rookie Matthew Schaefer has cut into his time on the team’s power play (he’s down from 2:58 per game in 2024-25 to 1:34 this season) DeAngelo has still managed to produce 33 points in 72 games. The final four games on New York’s schedule not only have high stakes for the team, but also high personal stakes for DeAngelo. As a pending UFA, his performance down the stretch could leave a lasting impression on DeBoer and GM Mathieu Darche, who will need to decide whether he’ll be part of their plans for next year’s team.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Islanders prospect Jesse Nurmi has been reassigned to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders from his OHL team, the London Knights, according to the league’s transactions wire. Nurmi, 21, tried his hand at pro hockey early this season but only managed two points across 12 games for the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate, the Worcester Railers. He was loaned back to the OHL in December. In London, the 2023 fourth-round pick managed 14 goals and 31 points in 30 games, along with one point in the Knights’ first round series loss to the Soo Greyhounds. With today’s reassignment, he’ll get the chance to once again try his hand at pro hockey this season.
- Former Islanders defenseman Robin Salo will leave the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks after two seasons with the club, according to a team announcement. The 27-year-old was a second-round pick of the Islanders at the 2017 draft and ended up skating in 32 NHL games for the club, coming during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. Salo was last part of the organization in 2023-24, when he scored 24 points in 68 games for AHL Bridgeport. Salo was once one of the Islanders’ top prospects, ranking No. 3 in the team’s system in 2021, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. That high ranking was shared by the team at Elite Prospects, who ranked Salo the Islanders’ No. 2 prospect that same year. While Salo never quite became the steady NHL defenseman some scouts projected him to be, he’s nonetheless developed into a valuable blueliner in the SHL. He led all Redhawks defensemen in scoring with 40 points in 52 games this season and was a true No. 1 defenseman for Malmö, averaging 24:45 time on ice per game. He ranked No. 5 in scoring by a defenseman in the SHL this season and led all blueliners in time on ice per game.
New York Islanders Fire Patrick Roy, Hire Peter DeBoer
The New York Islanders announced that head coach Patrick Roy has been relieved of his duties, and the team has hired former Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer as his replacement. The move comes with four games remaining in the Islanders’ regular-season schedule.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that, unlike other recent mid-season coaching changes, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ hire of Rick Bowness and the Vegas Golden Knights’ hire of John Tortorella, this hire has not been made with just a one-year term. DeBoer’s contract to coach the Islanders includes multiple years. Specifically, DeBoer will reportedly be signed through the 2028-29 season per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. This deal will align with Mathieu Darche’s GM contract. Roy had two years remaining on his deal as Islanders coach, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
Just one week ago, it looked as though the Islanders were on their way to the playoffs. New York won three games on its four-game homestand, and although a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was deflating, a regulation win over the rival Blue Jackets gave the team a significant boost. New York sat second in the Metropolitan Division, three points clear of their closest out-of-the-playoffs division rival.
The Islanders have not won since that victory over the Panthers. They suffered an 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30, paving the way for Pittsburgh to vault to the No. 2 spot in the division. They lost to the Buffalo Sabres the following day and have since dropped games to divisional rivals (Philadelphia and Carolina) on back-to-back days.
With playoff odds that once looked relatively certain, the Islanders have responded to a rapid, albeit relatively brief downturn in on-ice fortunes by making a coaching change. Their decision to swap coaches, likely in search of a spark to keep the team in a playoff position, is similar to the aforementioned decision by the Golden Knights to fire Bruce Cassidy in favor of John Tortorella.
Roy himself arrived in New York as part of an in-season coaching change. The 60-year-old, who was widely considered one of the greatest goalies of all time during his playing days, won the Jack Adams award as coach of the year in 2013-14. He went 20-12-5 in his first season with the Islanders, leading them to the playoffs, where they would fall in five games in the first round. The team took a step back last season, going 35-35-12, but appeared to have rebounded this season.
Fueled by star rookie Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders were one of the league’s resurgent organizations. Their prospect pool has significantly improved (rising from No. 25 in the NHL to No. 12 in just one year, according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler rankings), and, just a week ago, they looked poised to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence. But the last week has not been kind to the Islanders, as mentioned, and, with time running out to secure a playoff spot, they decided to swap coaches.
DeBoer comes in a little under a year after his tenure in Dallas came to a shocking end. The Stars reached the Western Conference Finals in all three seasons he was at the helm and compiled a 149-68-29 (.665) regular-season record, his best run with any of the five NHL teams he’s coached and the best regular-season record in the league from 2022 to 2025. Their inability to get past the third round, plus his decision to pull star goaltender Jake Oettinger after he allowed two goals on his first two shots faced in what became a season-ending Game 5 loss to the Oilers last year, ended up resulting in one of the more high-profile firings in recent memory. They waited to ultimately relieve him of his duties after all the other coaching vacancies last offseason had been filled, leading to him not being on an NHL bench for the first 95% of the season.
One could argue that DeBoer is the most accomplished active coach without a Stanley Cup ring. He has an exceptional record of deep playoff runs, particularly in his first couple of years with a club, and has reached a Conference Final in six of the last eight seasons. Despite the Isles now being his sixth team in the last 18 years, he’s been behind an NHL bench as head coach for at least one game every year since breaking into the league with the Panthers in 2008.
DeBoer’s 662 wins are 18th all-time, and he has a 662-447-152 (.525) lifetime record across 1,261 regular-season games with Florida, New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas, and Dallas. Only Barry Trotz had more experience as a new head coach hire in team history.
DeBoer now must correct a four-game losing streak in regulation to help the Isles recover. Their playoff odds had dropped to 31.4% ahead of today’s games, per MoneyPuck, with all the teams chasing them having one or multiple games in hand.
Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed significantly to this article.
Snapshots: Bogosian, O’Rourke, Kvasnicka
Minnesota Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian left the team’s game yesterday with an undisclosed injury, and will miss today’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, per a team announcement. Bogosian played just over 14 minutes in the Wild’s win over the Ottawa Senators yesterday. He’s been the Wild’s No. 7 defenseman in terms of average time on ice per game this season, registering 14:02 per game, including about 45 seconds per game on the penalty kill.
The Wild have two options on their roster who could replace Bogosian in the lineup: veteran Jeff Petry and 23-year-old Daemon Hunt. Since Petry is a right-shot defenseman, he seems to be the more likely candidate to claim Bogosian’s spot on the right side of Minnesota’s third pairing. Petry was acquired from the Florida Panthers earlier in the season, and has played in three games for the Wild so far. He’s averaged just over 12 minutes per game in Minnesota so far. The stakes for the Wild remain high in their upcoming games, as they still possess a slim chance at overtaking the Dallas Stars and earning home-ice advantage for the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Other notes from around the world of hockey:
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported on yesterday’s “Saturday Headlines” segment of Hockey Night in Canada that Texas-born Kade O’Rourke has applied for exceptional status to join the OHL next season. Friedman cited several conversations he had with people who believe there is “no question” O’Rourke is ready to play in the OHL next season. O’Rourke, a 6’1″ right-shot defenseman, scored four goals and 10 points in the OHL Cup, leading the Toronto Jr. Canadiens to the Final.
- While the New York Islanders have had a difficult week that has thrown their playoff odds into question, their organizational future remains one of the league’s brightest. Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer has taken the league by storm, and The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler recently ranked the team’s prospect pool No. 12 in the NHL, up a whopping 13 spots from where it ranked last season, at No. 25. According to Wheeler, of the biggest risers in the team’s prospect pool is WHL forward Jacob Kvasnicka. The Minnesota-born winger was drafted in the seventh round by the Islanders at the 2025 draft, 202nd overall. He’s led the expansion Penticton Vees in scoring with 35 goals and 85 points in 65 games this season.
Injury Notes: Stars, Red Wings, Hague
The Dallas Stars have been dealing with quite a few injuries at this point in the season, and there has been some concern that the injuries could throw a wrench in the team’s plans of capturing its first Stanley Cup title since 1999. Head coach Glen Gulutzan alleviated some of that concern yesterday, when he expressed optimism to the media that the Stars would be getting back several of their injured players over the next two weeks. In particular, he noted that injured center Roope Hintz, one of the team’s most consistent forwards, is nearing a return to full health.
Hintz has been out since March 6 with a lower-body injury. He has 15 goals and 44 points in 53 games this season, and is Dallas’ No. 2 center behind Wyatt Johnston. Also injured for the Stars is Tyler Seguin, who suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. Among the players Gulutzan indicated would at some point return in time for the playoffs are Radek Faksa (day-to-day, UBI), Sam Steel (day-to-day, LBI), Nathan Bastian (undisclosed), Michael Bunting (day-to-day, LBI) and Tyler Myers (undisclosed).
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
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- After the Detroit Red Wings’ deflating loss to the New York Rangers yesterday, head coach Todd McLellan told the media that veteran defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Mason Appleton are both questionable to play in today’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Faulk did not play Saturday in New York as the result of an upper-body injury, while Appleton sat out Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. Appleton’s fourth-line right wing role was taken on by veteran Dominik Shine yesterday. Jacob Bernard-Docker was elevated onto the second pairing to fill Faulk’s shoes, allowing rookie Axel Sandin-Pellika to draw back into the lineup.
- Nashville Predators defenseman Nicolas Hague left yesterday’s crucial win over the San Jose Sharks with an undisclosed injury, according to a team announcement. Hague missed some time earlier this season with a lower-body injury, though it is unclear at this point if what sidelined him yesterday is related to that ailment. Hague has been Nashville’s No. 3 defenseman this season, averaging 19:37 time on ice per game. He’s also a leading penalty killer for the club, averaging 2:04 per game while short-handed. The extent of Hague’s injury has yet to be revealed, but his status before the team’s all-important game Monday against the Los Angeles Kings will be important to track. If he ends up unable to dress for that game, the team is likely to rely more heavily on third-pairing left-shot defenseman Adam Wilsby.
Red Wings Sign Noah Dower-Nilsson
The Detroit Red Wings have signed prospect forward Noah Dower-Nilsson to a three-year entry-level contract, according to a team announcement. The deal is set to begin in the 2026-27 season.
Dower-Nilsson has spent the last two years playing for the senior team of Frölunda HC in the SHL. Frölunda fell to Luleå in six games in this year’s SHL quarterfinals, ending Dower-Nilsson’s season.
The Red Wings’ press release announcing the signing did not contain any language indicating Dower-Nilsson has signed any sort of tryout agreement to spend the rest of 2025-26 in the AHL with the playoff-bound Grand Rapids Griffins. Unless something changes, that would indicate the 20-year-old is likely to cross the Atlantic and make his North American debut later this year, rather than on a more immediate basis.
As previously mentioned, this season was Dower-Nilsson’s second as a full-time player in the pro ranks. He played in 35 games for Frölunda last season, scoring 10 points while averaging 10:49 time on ice per game. This season, Dower-Nilsson saw his ice time rise to 12:20 per game, and his production rose with it. He scored six goals and 16 points this season, and added four points in six games in the quarterfinal series loss to Luleå.
Although Dower-Nilsson was not ranked among the top 24 prospects in the Red Wings’ system by Elite Prospects entering the season, it appears he has taken a real step forward in his game. The outlet’s Swedish scout Jimmy Hamrin wrote in an early-season game report that “it looks like [Dower-Nilsson] has taken his game another step ahead.” Hamrin assigned Dower-Nilsson a middle-six NHL projection.
Before he can reach that point, though, he’ll likely need to begin by developing in Grand Rapids. The Red Wings have an extensive track record of success developing European prospects at the AHL level, and they will hope to continue that track record with Dower-Nilsson.
Ryan Shea Aiming For Extension With Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the more impressive teams of the 2025-26 season, currently in a strong position as the No. 2 team in the Metropolitan Division, a real bounce-back from last season, when they finished in seventh place.
First-year head coach Dan Muse has rightfully gotten a significant amount of credit for the Penguins’ rapid turnaround, but there have also been individual players who have fueled the team’s reversal in fortunes. One player whose emergence has greatly aided the Penguins has been defenseman Ryan Shea, who now finds himself a pending unrestricted free agent.
The Athletic’s Josh Yohe spoke to Shea about his expiring contract, and Shea was candid about his future, saying “I’m a UFA this summer, and it’s not like I don’t know that, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of setting myself up.”
According to Yohe, Shea is “team-oriented,” and the reporter noted that the player’s focus is singularly on getting the chance to play playoff hockey for the first time in his NHL career.
But when it comes to his future, Shea’s priority isn’t testing free agency and securing a bidding war between other clubs for his services.
He has made it clear he wants to remain a Penguin, telling Yohe: “I absolutely want to be in Pittsburgh moving forward, I want to be here. This is the only organization that gave me a shot. I’m a loyal guy.” Shea added that his expectation is his contract will be dealt with after the season ends, in the summer.
Per Yohe, negotiations on a new contract have not yet taken place between the Penguins’ hockey operations department and Shea’s representatives. Shea is a client of Win Hockey Agency’s Matt Keator.
As Shea himself indicated, his breakout performance in the NHL has positioned him very well entering free agency. Shea’s rise has been so notable that we even covered his case for a hefty pay raise in January.
Shea has signed three successive one-year deals with the Penguins, his first a one-way pact valued at $775K. Shea’s second deal in Pittsburgh was a two-way contract, despite the fact that he played in a then-career-high 31 NHL games in 2023-24. That deal carried a $425K AHL salary and $450K guarantee along with the standard league-minimum $775K NHL salary. Shea’s third deal in Pittsburgh, the contract he’s currently playing on, is a one-year, $900K contract.
Shea has done enough to easily surpass that value on his next deal. AFP Analytics projects Shea’s next contract at three years, $3.43MM AAV. At face value, that seems like a fair number for the role Shea has played, serving as a hefty pay raise while also not breaking the bank by any means.
Shea has been the Penguins’ No. 6 defenseman in terms of average time on ice per game this season, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, as that includes mid-season additions Brett Kulak and Samuel Girard. Among Penguins blueliners who have played over 25 games for the team, Shea ranks No. 4 in average time on ice per game with 18:46. He ranks No. 2 in time on ice per game on the penalty kill, playing 2:14 there per game, which places him just a shade behind Parker Wotherspoon.
It’s clear that Shea has not only earned the trust of Muse, but also his teammates. He’s been a valuable defensive presence, an insulator for the Penguins defensemen who possess more natural offensive talent. Connor Clifton, Shea’s current partner on the team’s third pairing, said of Shea “I don’t really think that people understand how good this guy is,” and “he does everything well, there aren’t any weaknesses there.” Muse also spoke to Shea’s value to the Penguins’ lineup, telling Yohe: “you see the key defensive situations that he’s put in, five-on-five and on the penalty kill.”
With the expiration of his contract looming, Shea looks set to reach a new level of compensation, one commensurate with the on-ice value he’s established. His qualities as an NHL player are no longer a mystery, and neither is his desire to remain in Pittsburgh. All that is left to figure out, for both Shea’s representatives and the Penguins themselves, is the exact price tag it’ll take to get a deal on an extension formally completed.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Latest On Cale Makar
4/1/26: Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar addressed Makar’s status Wednesday morning, telling Altitude Sports that Makar is going to “miss some time here” but that the injury overall is “nothing serious.” Bednar stressed that the team is prioritizing ensuring Makar is 100% ready for the team’s playoff run when it comes to his recovery.
Reading between the lines, it appears the club is unwilling to risk rushing Makar back into the lineup when the team is already the likely Presidents’ Trophy winner, and the only thing at stake left for Makar this season is competing for a third Norris Trophy.
3/31/26: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar has suffered an upper-body injury and is set to miss some time, reports ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. According to Kaplan, Makar’s injury is “not believed to be long term” but the team is still evaluating his recovery timeline. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Makar will “likely miss a few games in order to get him to 100 percent before the playoffs.”
Makar’s injury has implications both for the Avalanche and rival teams. For Colorado, they are forced to play at least the next few games without their top defenseman. Not only is Makar the Avalanche’s top blueliner, but he’s widely considered to be one of, if not the best defenseman in the world.
The 27-year-old is a two-time Norris Trophy winner and has also won the Conn Smythe Trophy. His 2025-26 season has been strong, as he has 75 points in 73 games, marking his fifth consecutive campaign scoring above a point-per-game rate. While the uncharacteristic struggles of the Avalanche power play have lowered his scoring rate from last season, he’s still among the league’s highest-scoring defensemen.
Makar plays a massive role for the Avalanche, as one might expect, averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time per game, including 4:10 on the power play and 1:58 per game short-handed. The Avalanche will need to find a way to replace those minutes while Makar is absent. It’s likely Devon Toews will play an even greater role with Makar absent, while veteran Brent Burns could get a turn on the top power play unit.
Beyond Colorado, this news has implications for other teams, namely those with defensemen vying for the Norris Trophy. Earlier this month, Makar tied with Columbus Blue Jackets star Zach Werenski in votes for the Norris Trophy in the anonymous poll of PHWA voters conducted by ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Given Werenski and Makar appear to be neck-and-neck for the Norris Trophy this season (Werenski finished No. 2 in voting behind Makar last year), Makar’s injury could end up being the factor that separates the two.
The injury is likely to cost Makar a few games, and those few games missed could cost him the chance to surpass Werenski in scoring. Consequently, this injury could be the difference-maker that allows the Blue Jackets defenseman to secure his first Norris Trophy. Of course, there are still a little over two weeks of games to be played, so there is room for things to change. But based on the way things have been tracking, this injury could be significant from an end-of-year awards perspective.