Cale Makar departed the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday to be with his wife, who was due to give birth.
That meant he missed the Avs’ matchup with the Dallas Stars, and interestingly, the teams meet up again on Wednesday, with Makar’s playing status still relatively uncertain.
As one of the top defensemen in hockey, Makar is a huge difference maker when he’s on the ice for the Avalanche.
It works in the inverse, too, of course — when Makar isn’t playing, Colorado definitely misses him.
There’s at least one hint out there giving us an idea of what Colorado will do with Makar on Wednesday night.
Is Cale Makar Playing Tonight?
The main indication out there is that Makar will miss Wednesday’s game, too.
The projected lineup page on NHL.com includes this note:
“Makar is expected to miss his second straight game after the defenseman’s wife gave birth to twins.”
That’s pretty awesome for Makar. The Avalanche fanbase will certainly approve of him missing the game to spend a little extra time with his wife and their two new children.
Avalanche Projected Lineup Without Cale Makar
That same NHL.com page projects what the Avalanche will look like on the ice without Makar.
The first defensive pairing becomes Devon Toews with Sam Malinski.
Then the second pairing has Brett Kulak together with Noah Juulsen.
And the third pairing lines up as Josh Manson with the veteran Brent Burns.
The Avalanche also have their usual high-powered forward lines ready to go.
The first line features Nathan MacKinnon flanked by Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas.
Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri are on the wings for the second line around center Brock Nelson.
The third line includes Jaden Schwartz, Fedor Svechkov and T.J. Hughes.
And it’s Nicolas Roy centering the fourth line with Parker Kelly and Zachary L’Heureux.
By the projection, also scratched with Makar is Logan O’Connor.
The Stars have a strong team, too, but they’re missing two key players: Matt Duchene with a lower-body injury, and Wyatt Johnston due to illness.
The most intriguing on-ice matchup may be the first-line centers, MacKinnon and Roope Hintz. They managed to get in a fight on Tuesday night, and Hintz threw some strong right hands to bloody MacKinnon’s nose pretty good.
MacKinnon may avoid a return encounter with the fists, but he sure would like the chance to get the better of Hintz on the ice.
Is Cale Makar Playing Tonight? Avalanche Projected Lineup Reveals New Father’s Status