The Colorado Avalanche look poised to dominate the rest of the season at the rate at which they are going. Currently ruling over the Central Division, the Avs have the most points among all NHL teams at the moment: 27. Under the deft leadership of Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado has pushed its win streak to four. With only one regulation loss and five overtime losses, the team is playing on an entirely different level than the rest.
After the Edmonton Oilers succumbed 9-1 to the Avalanche, Kris Knoblauch could not help but admit that Edmonton was “not even close” to Colorado. Now, the hockey GOAT, Wayne Gretzky, has touted the team’s standout blueliner as the best in the league.
Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche Receives Wayne Gretzky’s Approval
In November, the Avs have already given the NHL world a glimpse of their strength by handing the Anaheim Ducks their first loss of the month. Reigning over the Ducks 4-1, Colorado stomped forward and will be meeting the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Ball Arena.
Meanwhile, Cale Makar, who was crowned the best NHL defenseman in 2025, has received a second nod of approval from Gretzky. The hockey legend appeared on the 100% Hockey podcast, and among other things, took a moment out to squarely state that there is no defenseman in the NHL right now who could rival Makar.
The 27-year-old is in the fifth year of his six-year, $54 million contract with the Avalanche that bears a cap hit of $9 million. Since being drafted by the Avs, he has remained with the team, and when he hits free agency in 2027, the market will be teeming with suitors.
There will be no scarcity of teams prepared to drop a fortune to procure Makar. Gretzky believes that if every GM were asked to pick one defenseman, all of them would go for the standout Avs blueliner.
“I said if you had 32 GMs, I think the one thing they would all agree on is if they could pick one guy, now we will leave Toronto out of it and Colorado because I don’t want to put them on the spot. So you got 30 teams. They would all take Connor McDavid, and the other guy in the league, they had 30 GMs, and you said you could pick one defenseman, I would be shocked if all 30 did not take Cale Makar,” Gretzky noted in the podcast.Â
He further stated that Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Makar take every game they play to a different altitude altogether. “So those are the two guys that make a difference each and every night.”
When the hockey GOAT comes out to endorse you, you must be doing something right. Makar is an indelible element of the Avs lineup, and for good reason.
