Dr. Harjas Grewal just weighed in on Cale Makar's exit from the Colorado Avalanche game in Ottawa tonight.
Makar left after a second-period play, and Gino Hard reported that the defenseman was done for the night. We covered the moment when Cale Makar was suddenly ruled out, and the first question from fans was simple: what happened?
Grewal noted that nothing looked obvious to him on the play, and wondered whether Makar was already dealing with something like a groin strain and felt it on a relatively normal stop.
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That is a read from the outside, not a diagnosis. But it fits what fans saw: no violent collision to point at, just a star leaving a game that was still in progress.
If Grewal is right, the problem may have been building before tonight. That would raise a fair question about whether Makar was playing through something, and how long the Colorado Avalanche knew.
Makar has 23 points in 18 games this season, 18 of them assists. He is the one defenseman in Colorado's lineup who drives the offense from the back end on his own.
Can the Colorado Avalanche survive a thin blue line without Makar?
Not for long. On Monday, Colorado placed Josh Manson on long-term injured reserve and recalled Alex Gagne from the Eagles, which already stretched the group.
Lose Makar for any real stretch on top of that and the Colorado Avalanche are asking depth defensemen to cover minutes they were never built to play. Gagne would be one of them.
The call to make is on the power play and at even strength, where Makar has 1 power-play goal and 6 power-play assists. Nobody on the back end replaces that.
Everything now depends on what the Colorado Avalanche say about Makar's condition. Any update on a timeline will decide who gets the minutes in their next game.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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