Avalanche training camp, Day 3 notes and observations: Makar dazzles

Cale Makar is going to be a beast, there’s just no getting around it. The kid did pretty much anything he wanted out there today in Day 3 of Colorado Avalanche training camp. Just like he did pretty much anything he wanted the previous two days.

A big highlight from Day 1 of camp was the poke-check breakup of a 2-on-1, where he was the lone guy back against Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog. Makar stepped up into the crossing pass, anticipating it perfectly, and knocked it away.

Sunday, Makar had a couple of dazzling stickhandling moments in traffic, but did all the other fundamentals well on a day that saw quite a bit of scrimmaging. He has been paired with Sam Girard, and it’s a good bet those two will stay together going into the regular season – although Erik Johnson has been Girard’s most frequent partner (Johnson is still rehabbing from shoulder surgery).

Sticking with Girard would be fine with Makar.

“It’s awesome,” Makar said, when asked what it’s like to play with the lefty Girard. “We both move well. We’re able to transition really quickly. I think we can still tighten up in our defensive zone systems. I’m still getting used to them. Once I kind of fully understand what I’m doing, I think it’ll be a lot easier for us to read off each other.”

Makar, who turns 21 next month, is getting his own apartment in “two or three days.” Keep in mind, he still has yet to play his first career NHL regular-season game. There is a lot of hype surrounding the Hobey Baker winner, and with good reason. But Makar knows he still has to prove himself in all areas, including, as it’s expected he’ll be, the new quarterback of the first power-play unit.

“I think it’s one of my strengths. Whatever unit it’s on, it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “Offense, creating plays, has always been one of my strengths. Whatever the coach asks me to do. I’ll be fortunate to play on either (unit).”

OTHER NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Monday is the final day of the full camp. There likely will be the first cuts later in that day. Tuesday sees the start of the exhibition season, with a game at the Pepsi Center against Vegas.
• Kevin Connauton, who suffered a broken jaw last week after taking a puck to the face at a captain’s practice, is playing with a cage. He scored the lone goal in the scrimmage between the day’s first group, a group that included Nathan MacKinnon’s line. MacKinnon seemed a little irritated in the scrimmage, after getting hooked or held a couple times.
• Jared Bednar said he plans to play starting goalie Philipp Grubauer between 55 and 60 games.
• Former Av Curtis Leschyshyn has been hired as a pro scout by the Avs. He was on hand with the rest of the staff Sunday. Leschyshyn (pronounced “Le-Si-zhun”) was a member of the Avs’ 1996 Stanley Cup team. He lives in Saskatchewan now, so he should be doing a lot of his scouting at Oilers and Flames games.
• Joonas Donskoi scored in the second scrimmage of the day.
• Joe Sakic played in an alumni game in Vail Saturday night and scored a hat trick.

What a fun game!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting the squad. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/7OeNUnG1Gw

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 15, 2019

• Bednar’s four-minute presser from today: