Evan’s NHL Daily: Absurd Cale Makar Stats, Oilers Forced Into Trade?

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday away from the NHL, since nobody plays on Thanksgiving. I dealt with the flu, and am still dealing with it, so it wasn’t super fun for me, but I’ll survive. That’s part of the reason there was no Turning Point article yesterday.

With no NHL games, I thought today would be a good day to take a look at some absolutely absurd Cale Makar stats, just to put everything he does into perspective. Is he the best player in the league at the moment? It’s entirely possible given how much the Edmonton duo has struggled.

As for the rest of the Avalanche, we took a look back at the win over the Canucks, and they now walk into their first back-to-back of the season.

Colorado Hockey Now

We don’t know if Riley Tufte got sent back to the Colorado Eagles, but if he didn’t, he had to change his holiday plans.

Wednesday night was the best game in an Avalanche uniform for Jonathan Drouin. Can he keep it up?

On Friday, the Avalanche will be in Minnesota to take on the Wild, and then they’ll head home to play the Flames on Saturday.

You can get a subscription to CHN+ for $29.99 a year with the code “evan10” and get access to the + content on every site in the network. In addition to the + content, everything will be ad-free.

Cale Makar Stats

We’re just about 1/4 of the way through the NHL season, and Cale Makar is starting to separate himself as the best player in the league. It’s funny because there was (and possibly still is) a lot of concern that he wasn’t near 100%. That still might be true, but just goes to show how good he is.

For now, here are some fun Makar stats that show just how good he has been to start this NHL season.

Cale Makar ranks 1st in both Net Rating and Avg Game Score this season pic.twitter.com/HofcbsRYj6

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 23, 2023

No player has assisted on a higher percentage of team goals this season than Cale Makar (24 assists on 69 goals):#GoAvsGo Makar – 34.8#LetsGoOilers Draisaitl – 32.1#NYR Panarin – 29.1#Canucks Hughes – 28.8

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 23, 2023

Most points by a defenceman – First 18 team games of a season:
35- Bobby Orr (1973-74)
35- Orr (1974-75)
32- Al MacInnis (1990-91)
30- Orr (1969-70)
30- Orr (1971-72)
29- @Avalanche Cale Makar (2023-24)
28- Paul Coffey (1988-89)
28- John Carlson ('19-20)
28- Quinn Hughes ('23-24) pic.twitter.com/4OJEiE6ZFn

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) November 23, 2023

Cale Makar is the best defenseman in the NHL in our eyes & he's proving it this year again. We wouldn't be surprised if he wins another the James Norris Memorial Trophy this season. https://t.co/GiXlZML4B8 pic.twitter.com/DUA3AA6OWA

— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) November 19, 2023

Never take for granted that you get to watch (sometimes, unfortunately) a generational talent on a nightly basis.

Kovalenko Update

Nikolai Kovalenko is not slowing down in the KHL. In fact, he could very easily be the MVP over there. On Thursday, he picked up another goal and an assist in Torpedo’s 3-2 loss. He’s currently third in the KHL in points-per-game.

A Thanksgiving goal for Kovalenko pic.twitter.com/JNeacH7GJx

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) November 23, 2023

Around The NHL

The Edmonton Oilers have already waived their #1 goaltender. They’ve already made a coaching change. What else can they do?

It’s pretty obvious…make a big trade. They’re in a very difficult spot because they kind of have to go for it while Draisaitl and McDavid are signed, but they don’t exactly have much to give up. And even if they find a goalie, that doesn’t fix their defense.

P.S. Mike Johnson is my favorite NHL analyst by far.

#TSNHockey analyst @Mike_P_Johnson joins @JayOnrait to discuss the Oilers needing to address their goaltending situation. pic.twitter.com/KEp33hfOsj

— JayOnSC (@JayOnSC) November 24, 2023

National Hockey Now

The Pittsburgh Penguins are so desperate to create offense on the powerplay that they’re separating Crosby and Malkin.

Without Alex Barkov, the Penguins will have to turn to young center Anton Lundell. (+)

Are the Calgary Flames in trouble without Connor Zary?

What the heck is going on in Chicago? Corey Perry has gone missing.