The college season of 2017 first-round Avalanche draft choice Cale Makar ended Saturday. Technically, he is a free agent of sorts. He doesn’t have to return for a sophomore season at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst if he doesn’t want to. He could try to turn pro as soon as, well, now.
But that’s not what his college coach, Greg Carvel, expects to happen.
“We expect that he’ll return for another year with us,” Carvel told BSN Denver Monday morning. “Our season just ended and we’re going through some exit meetings and things like that. I’m sure I’ll talk to him and know more soon. But I think another year (here) would do him well.”
A lot of college players turn pro after just one season of college. Tyson Jost did just that with the Avs last year, in fact, leaving the University of North Dakota. But that is not expected to happen with Makar, 19, who was selected fourth overall last year by the Avs.
The Avs do no want to burn a year off his entry-level contract. Defensemen typically take a little longer to develop, which is another reason why Carvel said another year at UMass-Amherst would serve him best.
“There’s nothing I can really teach him offensively. He has that kind of elite offensive talent already. But it’s the play away from the puck that he still needs to improve,” Carvel told BSN Denver. “He was partially responsible for some of the goals against over the weekend. I think next year, though, he would be a dominant player in our league. This year, he was just a very good player.”
Though the Avs won’t sign him for any games this current season, it’s possible they could try to persuade him to come out after just one year of college. Makar is probably the team’s best prospect in its system. Or, the Avs could try for a scenario in which they see Makar play another year of college, but then sign him when it’s over and get something of the best of both worlds.
Makar scored five goals and 21 points in 34 games for UMass. He helped lead Canada to a gold medal in the most recent World Junior Championships.
Carvel said he hopes for a final decision from Makar within the next couple of weeks, as the recruiting season is already underway. UMass-Amherst finished 17-20-2 overall.
0 Comments (4 conversations)
AvsFinn
Couldn’t he play 9 games without burning a year of the elc? Like Rantanen did. But then he couldn’t return to college, so what I think they’re considering now is, would the AHL be a better place to develop than college if NHL is too soon.
Markk
I think playoffs are a consideration too, like if he plays a playoff game, it might burn his ELC.
AvsFinn
No playoffs are counted to the 9 games the same way as regular season games. For example 5 regular season games + 4 playoffs wouldn’t burn it. But I found the problem in Makar’s case: it’s that he’ll be 20 this year, the year he signs the elc.
According to gapfriendly “An exception to this rule is that if the player is 19 on September 15 of the first year of their contract, and turns 20 between September 16 and December 31, their contract does not slide.”
Makar was born 98/10/30 so any games played this season will burn a year of the elc. And with that I think it’s safe to say he won’t play this season. Also remembering that a Seattle expansion draft could be ahead.
ljp78
The question in my mind, that I can’t answer, is would his play “away from the puck” develop better over a few dozen games in college with his college coaches, or 82 games in Loveland with EV.
Johnny M
Surely he would better develop away from a mediocre NCAA team and in the AHL, or perhaps take a look at the big club in training camp etc and see how he might do, and what he needs to hone his game to the NHL standard. I’d love to see him leave for bigger and better things.
Avsfan29
Would be nice to see him play in the AHL next year. He would play more games against pro players. Being in closer contact with the Avs management wouldn’t hurt, either.