Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cale Makar

Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar Named Ted Lindsay Award Finalists

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov and Avalanche superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar have been named the Ted Lindsay Award finalists for the 2024-25 season, the NHLPA announced today. The Lindsay Award is given to the league’s most outstanding player as voted on by his peers.

Now in his 11th NHL season, Kucherov became the 10th player in league history with three or more scoring titles. He’s the first player with back-to-back Art Ross Trophies not named Connor McDavid since Jaromír Jágr won four straight from 1998 to 2001. He finished the campaign with 37 goals, 84 assists, and 121 points in 78 games, not quite sniffing last year’s career-highs across the board but still leading the league in assists and points.

If Kucherov wins, it’ll be his second Lindsay after winning it alongside his first Art Ross-winning season in 2018-19. He’s also just the fourth player in league history to record three consecutive 80-assist seasons, joining Paul Coffey, Wayne Gretzky, and Bobby Orr.

It’s rare to see two players from the same club nominated for the same award, but the wording of “most outstanding” as compared to “most valuable” in the Lindsay fine print opens up the opportunity for this award compared to the media-voted Hart Trophy for league MVP. MacKinnon could be the first back-to-back winner of the Lindsay since McDavid in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He tied Kucherov’s league-leading 84 assists this year and added 32 goals in 79 games in what was a down season for him in the shooting department. MacKinnon’s sky-high 22:47 average time on ice per game led all forwards this year, and he led the league in shots on goal (320) for the fourth time in his 12-year career. MacKinnon totaled 116 points for his third straight season above the century mark.

As for Makar, he was announced as a Norris Trophy finalist just yesterday for the fifth time in his six-year NHL resume. He registered a career-high 30 goals and 92 points in 80 games to lead NHL defensemen, now poised to take home the Defenseman of the Year award for the second time while potentially adding a Lindsay to his trophy case. He faces some extremely long odds, though. A defenseman has only won the Lindsay once since it was introduced as the Lester B. Pearson Award in the 1970-71 campaign – Orr took it home in 1974-75. Carey Price (2014-15) is the only non-forward to win it in the last 28 years.

Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Zach Werenski Named Norris Trophy Finalists

at CDT | by 7 Comments

The Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, the Avalanche’s Cale Makar, and the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski are the 2024-25 Norris Trophy finalists for the NHL’s top defenseman, per a league announcement.

There are no surprises in this triumvirate. While it’s likely to be a closer race than yesterday’s Vezina Trophy announcement, Makar’s the frontrunner after setting a new career high with 30 goals and 92 points in 80 games. Now a Norris finalist five times in six years to begin his career, the 26-year-old became the first rearguard since Mike Green in 2008-09 to hit the 30-goal mark. He was the first to also eclipse 90 points in the same year since Paul Coffey in 1988-89.

Makar’s defensive impacts also rebounded after a strikingly pedestrian 2023-24 season in his own end. He posted a 56.6 CF% at even strength and a 59.4 xGF%, the latter standing as a career-high over a non-shortened season. He’s finished third in Norris voting the last two years after winning the award in 2022, but he’s almost certainly set to get back into the top two.

If not for an oblique injury taking a bite out of his campaign, Hughes would have more of a chance to win back-to-back Norris Trophies for the first time since Nicklas Lidström’s three-peat from 2006 to 2008. The 5’10” lefty matched the 1.12 points-per-game rate that won him the honors last year and finished the year with 16-60–76 in 68 games, his fourth straight campaign above the 60-assist mark. Hughes’ 25:44 time on ice per game trailed only Werenski among skaters.

As for Werenski, he becomes the first defenseman in Blue Jackets franchise history to earn a Norris nomination. The 27-year-old finished eighth in voting in 2019-20 but hasn’t received any consideration since then. He exploded back onto the scene in 2024-25, driving Columbus’ resurgent seventh-ranked offense with a team-high 82 points in 81 games. His 1.01 points per game were third in the league behind Makar and Hughes, but a higher percentage of his offensive production came at even strength. 35 and 29 of Makar’s and Hughes’ points came with the man advantage, while Werenski had only 25 power-play points and matched Makar’s 54 even-strength points to lead defensemen. Werenski also led defensemen with 298 shots on goal and ranked third in the league overall.

4 Nations Notes: Tkachuk, Makar, Armia, Teräväinen

at CDT | by 11 Comments

One of the more unfortunate substories during Team USA’s victory over Team Canada on Saturday night was the lower-body injury forward Matthew Tkachuk suffered in the third period. He won’t play against Team Sweden tonight, as Dan Rosen of the NHL reported that Tkachuk didn’t practice with the team this morning.

Since they are the only team in the tournament with two regulation wins, there’s not much on the line for Team USA this evening. However, it seems the United States is confident Tkachuk will return for the championship game on Thursday. Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe shared a note from Matthew’s brother, Brady Tkachuk, saying Matthew will be ’good to go’ for Thursday’s matchup.

It’ll be important for the United States to get Matthew back in the lineup for the championship contest. He scored two goals and one assist in their victory against Team Finland last week and got the all-important matchup against Canada started with a fight against Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff. Much like they are for their respective NHL clubs, the Tkachuk brothers have quickly become Teams USA’s emotional lifeblood.

Other notes from the 4 Nations Face-Off:

  • Another important substory from Saturday night’s rivalry matchup between Canada and the United States was the lack of the former’s top defenseman, Cale Makar. The former James Norris, Calder, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner was dealing with an illness that prohibited him from participating. Unfortunately for Team Canada, there’s no guarantee he’ll return against Team Finland. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski shared that Makar has again been listed as a game-time decision for today’s matchup, meaning a firmer decision will be made closer to puck drop.
  • Speaking of Team Finland, the team’s forward grouping will look slightly different. Dan Rosen reported that Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia is replacing Chicago Blackhawks’ Teuvo Teräväinen in this afternoon’s lineup. Teräväinen has gone scoreless throughout the tournament averaging approximately 8:30 of ice time per game.

Cale Makar Out With Illness, Thomas Harley Added To Roster

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Feb. 15th: According to Friedman, Makar has officially been ruled out of tonight’s contest due to an illness. Team Canada has been allowed to add Harley to the roster, who will draw in for Makar this evening.

Feb. 14th: Team Canada could be without its best defenseman, Cale Makar when it takes on Team USA, also without its best defenseman, Quinn Hughes. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported this morning that Makar had missed today’s practice due to illness and that Philadelphia Flyers’ defenseman Travis Sanheim was skating in his spot in the lineup.

It would ultimately be a massive blow to a Canadian team that has already lost defenseman Shea Theodore for the remainder of the tournament. Chris Johnston of The Athletic confirmed yesterday that Dallas Stars’ defenseman Thomas Harley was brought in on a stand-by role should Team Canada lose another defenseman.

Given the tournament’s rules, there was speculation that Harley wouldn’t be allowed to join the team. However, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the NHL and NHLPA concluded that Harley could travel to join the team in Montreal but would only be allowed to practice and/or play if Makar is officially ruled out.

That doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome. LeBrun later shared that Team Canada’s head coach, Jon Cooper, felt confident that Makar would be in tomorrow’s lineup.

Cooper’s confidence should assuage most doubts about Makar’s availability tomorrow night. The former Calder, James Norris, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner went scoreless over 28:06 in Team Canada’s opening night win over Team Sweden adding three blocked shots.

Evening Notes: Wilsby, Georgiev, Makar

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Nashville Predators have announced that they’ve sent defenseman Adam Wilsby to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. The 24-year-old had been up with the team since November 13th but didn’t see any NHL action. The fourth-round pick in 2020 is in his third professional season in North America and has dressed in 11 AHL games this year with Milwaukee, tallying a goal and two assists to go along with a +4 rating.

The Stockholm, Sweden native has yet to see NHL action in three seasons with the Predators organization but remains someone that team management is high on despite his lack of offensive production. Wilsby has impressed in the AHL with his skating, gap control, and defending in his zone and will likely see another call-up soon.

In other evening notes:

  • Colorado Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev took part in the team’s skate today and could be an option tomorrow in Washington depending on how he feels tonight and tomorrow (as per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette). The development suggests that Colorado is optimistic about the 28-year-old’s recovery and potential return to the lineup. The Avalanche badly need some better goaltending as the team has the worst save percentage in the entire NHL. Georgiev also has a vested interest in turning around the team’s fortune as he is just over seven months away from unrestricted free agency.
  • Sticking with the Avalanche, David Satriano of NHL.com writes that defenseman Cale Makar is the early favourite to capture the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. NHL.com held a 15-person panel to vote on the early season winners and Makar came out ahead of Quinn Hughes and Josh Morrissey. Makar was the NHL’s First Star of the Month in October and began the season with an 11-game point streak that saw him register four goals and 15 assists. Makar is now up to eight goals and 19 assists in 19 games, which is a big reason Colorado has been able to keep pace in the Western Conference despite league-worst goaltending and a litany of injury issues.

Central Notes: Holloway, Kapanen, Makar, Novak, Sissons, Marchment, Vlasic

at CDT | by 1 Comment

In an impressive feat, St. Louis Blues’ forward Dylan Holloway will return to the lineup tonight after leaving the team’s most recent game after taking a puck to the neck (X Link). He left the game on a stretcher and was taken to an emergency department following the incident.

He’s been a solid addition to the Blues this season, as he’s off to the best scoring pace of his career to start the season. Four goals and six points in 13 games don’t necessarily jump off the page but considering he’s only managed nine points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, it’s a good improvement.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the team will still be without forward Kasperi Kapanen tonight. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported the projected lineup for tonight’s game and it didn’t include Kapanan meaning he’s likely still recovering from his upper-body injury.

Other Central notes:

  • Marc Moser of the Colorado Avalanche originally reported earlier that defenseman Cale Makar would be a game-time decision for the team’s contest tonight. As it turns out, Makar is expected to play in tonight’s action. Makar left during the second period of the team’s recent game against the Seattle Kraken but returned for less than a minute in the third period. He’s been the team’s best and arguably the league’s best player this season with five goals and 23 points in 13 games.
  • The Nashville Predators are without a few middle-six forwards tonight as the team announced Thomas Novak is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Colton Sissons has a similar injury designation. The news will inevitably hurt the Predators in one of their least productive areas as their 2.38 GF/G currently ranks 27th in the NHL.
  • Brien Rea of Victory+ reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Mason Marchment is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. This means that Marchment won’t be in the lineup tonight but could make his return this weekend against the Winnipeg Jets. He’s gotten off to a decent start on the year with two goals and eight points in 11 games.
  • Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Alex Vlasic had an impressive defensive season last year with a 90.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations on a basement-dwelling Blackhawks roster. Now that he’s recorded seven assists in 14 games this year, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic share that Vlasic is now getting outside consideration for Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He played internationally for the United States this past summer recording two assists in eight games in the 2024 IIHF World Championships.

Avalanche Notes: Landeskog, Makar, Georgiev

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar is hopeful that forward Gabriel Landeskog will be back at some point this season (as per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette). Landeskog suffered a setback (as per TSN) during his recovery from a knee injury that has kept him off the ice for over two years. The 31-year-old underwent knee surgery shortly after the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and his knee eventually required a cartilage transplant in May 2023.

Landeskog’s recovery has been an on-again-off-again ordeal that has required a great deal of patience. Anytime Landeskog has felt discomfort he has stopped skating to rest his ailing knee.

In other Colorado Avalanche notes:

  • Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar will travel with the club for their game tomorrow night, but it appears as though he will be a game-time decision (as per Ryan Boulding of NHL.com). The Avalanche take on the red-hot Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night as they try to climb back to .500. The 26-year-old left last night’s 6-3 win over Seattle after a single shift in the third period and is okay to travel, but he and the Avalanche will proceed with caution and see how he feels tomorrow before making a call on his status.
  • The Avalanche are set to start netminder Alexandar Georgiev when they take on the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night (as per Ryan Boulding of NHL.com). Georgiev has struggled immensely to start the season, sporting a 1-4-0 record with a .822 save percentage and a 4.62 goals-against average. In his last start, the 28-year-old stopped 21 of 24 shots as the Avalanche fell 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks. Georgiev is in the final season of a three-year deal and is currently carrying a $3.4MM cap hit this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and will need to turn his season around if he hopes to cash in on the open market in 2025.

NHL Announces 2023-24 All-Star Teams

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The NHL announced their annual season-ending All-Star teams as part of last night’s award festivities. The rosters, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, are as follows.

First All-Star Team

LW: Artemi Panarin (Rangers)
C: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche)
RW: Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
D: Quinn Hughes (Canucks)
D: Roman Josi (Predators)
G: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets)

Second All-Star Team

LW: Filip Forsberg (Predators)
C: Connor McDavid (Oilers)
RW: David Pastrňák (Bruins)
D: Adam Fox (Rangers)
D: Cale Makar (Avalanche)
G: Thatcher Demko (Canucks)

The First Team nod caps off quite a successful 24 hours for MacKinnon, who also swept both media-voted and player-voted MVP honors with the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. It’s his third All-Star nod, although his two prior ones were both Second Team honors in 2018 and 2020. The 28-year-old pivot led the Avs in scoring with 51 goals and 140 points this season and recorded a league-high 405 shots on goal.

Notably, the voting ledger (available in the league’s announcement) indicates Kucherov was the unanimous First Team selection at right wing. That’s the first time that’s happened since 2002, when the Flames’ Jarome Iginla was the across-the-board pick after also winning the Richard and Art Ross trophies. Like Iginla, Kucherov was crowned this year’s Art Ross winner after recording 144 points in 81 games. He tied with McDavid for a league-leading 100 assists, becoming the first winger in NHL history to hit the mark.

Absent from either team is Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, whose 69 goals this season were the most of anyone since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He also fell short of being a Hart Trophy finalist behind Kucherov, MacKinnon and McDavid. He was third in All-Star voting among centers, though, and did receive nine First Team and 55 Second Team votes out of 187 ballots. The only other center to receive consideration was the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, who only appeared on four ballots.

NHL Announces 2024 Norris Trophy Finalists

at CDT | by 19 Comments

The Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, the Predators’ Roman Josi and the Avalanche’s Cale Makar are this year’s Norris Trophy finalists for the league’s top defenseman, as announced today. Technically awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position,” the Norris, like many others, is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association after the regular season concludes.

Hughes, 24, isn’t just a finalist for the first time – he’s the first Canucks defenseman in franchise history to be named one. He has earned consideration in three of the past four seasons, placing 15th in voting in 2020, 13th in 2022, and ninth in 2023.

The 2018 seventh-overall pick is coming off a franchise-defining season, logging a Vancouver-record 75 assists and 92 points in 82 games that also led defenders league-wide. A first-year captain, Hughes averaged 24:41 per game, tying him for tenth in the league with Penguins blue-liner Kris Letang, and led all NHL defensemen with 54 even-strength points. He also had the most dominant possession season of his career, with Vancouver controlling 57.5% of shot attempts and 54.3% of expected goals with Hughes on the ice at even strength, per Hockey Reference.

Josi, 33, finished third among defensemen in points with 85 in 82 games but led outright in goals with 23. This is his third time being a finalist for the award, winning back in 2020 and finishing second to Makar in 2022. He’s now cracked the point-per-game plateau twice in the past three years and took the most shots of any blue-liner this season with 268, ahead of the Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin by more than 30. Like Hughes, he’s coming off the best possession season of his career, posting a 54.5 CF%, 5.1 relative CF%, and a 53.8 xGF% at even strength.

Makar, 25, led defenders in points per game this season but missed five games due to injury, placing him second in points behind Hughes with 90 in 77 games. It’s his fourth straight season as a finalist for the award, but compared to his peers mentioned here, may have the worst case for satisfying the “all-around ability” stipulation this season.

He had a quietly average season at even strength by his standards, getting a higher share of his point production on the power play compared to Hughes and Josi. His possession numbers weren’t all that different from Colorado’s averages, either. His 53.0 CF% at even strength was his lowest since his rookie season, and his 0.3 relative CF% was a career-low outright. That led Colorado to reassign some of his 5-on-5 minutes elsewhere – his overall average ice time dropped from 26:23 in 2022-23 to 24:46 this season without any significant changes in his usage on special teams.

The league hasn’t yet announced the date when award winners will be revealed.

2024 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Today, the NHL announced the 32 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Each team submitted their nominee; they are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler
Arizona Coyotes: Nick Bjugstad
Boston Bruins: Linus Ullmark
Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch
Calgary Flames: Andrew Mangiapane
Carolina Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin
Chicago Blackhawks: Connor Murphy
Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar
Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars: Jake Oettinger
Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton Oilers: Darnell Nurse
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles Kings: Kevin Fiala
Minnesota Wild: Marc-Andre Fleury
Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
New York Islanders: Anders Lee
New York Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bryan Rust
San Jose Sharks: Luke Kunin
Seattle Kraken: Jaden Schwartz
St. Louis Blues: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay Lightning: Nick Paul
Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
Vancouver Canucks: Quinn Hughes
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg Jets: Josh Morrissey

Unlike most awards which are voted on by the players or media, the winner of this award is selected by a committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman and former winners of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award, one that was awarded from 1997-98 through 2016-17.

Last year’s winner was Calgary’s Mikael Backlund.  The winner for this season will be revealed in late June.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top