Cale Makar made waves when he exploded onto the scene during the 2018-19 Stanley Cup playoffs, recording 6 points through 10 playoff games. It is rare to have a rookie defenseman make his NHL debut during the playoffs. It's even more rare to have one perform the way Makar did.
Cale Makar is a bona fide stud, make no mistake about it. He is in the midst of a very impressive rookie season and that is an understatement. Through 22 games this season, Makar currently sits at 25 points, putting him firmly on pace to surpass the 90 point barrier -- IN HIS ROOKIE SEASON. It's unprecedented. He is currently a runaway leader for the Calder Trophy.
If he can, indeed, remain on a 93-point-pace, the 21-year-old Hobey Baker Award winner would be the only rookie defenseman in NHL history to accomplish this feat. Makar would absolutely annihilate the record for scoring by a rookie defenseman, set by Hall-of-Famer, four-time Stanley Cup winner and three-time All Star, Larry Murphy, who tallied 76 points in 80 games as a rookie during the 1980-81 season with the Los Angeles Kings.
Although Makar's lofty point-production (1.136 points per game) will likely come back down to Earth as the season progresses, if the young Avs blueliner can maintain a 0.867 points-per-game average through the team's final 60 games, it would be just enough to reach the 77-point mark, snapping Murphy's 38-year-old record. At the rate he's going, it's not hard to imagine that Makar pulls it off. This kid is something else.
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