Best five players in the NHL

 After a spectacular 2022 postseason, Cale Makar of the Avs makes a compelling argument to be one of the best five players in the NHL.

While we await the announcement, here is every goal scored by Cale Makar this season.#NHLAwards #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/DNmRkmHajR

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 21, 2022

At the age of 23, what were you doing? Whatever it was, it was most likely not as cool as what young Cale Makar is doing. The star defenseman for the Avalanche had a fantastic season in 2021–22, making his second All-Star team and winning the Norris Trophy. In addition to winning the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP, he finished it all off by raising the Stanley Cup with Colorado.

The NHL's top players now highly regard Makar. With 28 goals during the regular season, he had the most among all defensemen, surpassing forwards John Tavares, Patrick Kane, Patrice Bergeron, and Tyler Seguin. His postseason performance was outstanding. He started the first round with 10 points in four games and finished with 29 points in 20 games.

Makar does more than just score points. He also has an unusual talent to skate. He always manages to expand his hips and get out of trouble. He is able to glide across the ice.

Along with his skating prowess, he also possesses deft hands. His achievements are countless:

Cale Makar of the Avalanche wins the Conn Smythe Trophy in the Stanley Cup Final, making history.

Source

One of the most evenly matched Stanley Cup Finals in recent memory, according to the hockey world. That cannot be contested. Without a doubt, the Lightning holds the upper hand between the pipes thanks to Andrei Vasilevskiy's superhuman efforts.

However, the Avalanche have a lineup that is simply too strong to be caught off guard in a series like this. During the regular season, the Avalanche defeated the Lightning in both of their meetings. With the help of Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog's three-point shooting, Colorado won both the 4-3 shootout and the 3-2 game.

This team has established itself as a powerhouse both during the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Avalanche became just the eighth club since 1987 to lose just two games before the Stanley Cup Final. The Avalanche have also tied for the NHL's most goals with a league-best average of 4.6 goals per game (65). The second-best rate in the league, behind the now-eliminated New York Rangers, is being achieved by Colorado, which is also converting 31.1 percent of their power-play opportunities.

As I said earlier, it is impossible to say that Vasilevskiy is a superior goalie to Colorado's Darcy Kuemper. However, as long as Kuemper is healthy, the seasoned goalie will be able to keep the Avalanche in games and handle the rest of the team's offensive duties.

The Avalanche have thus far faced the Oilers and St. Louis Blues, two of the top five scoring offenses in the postseason. Although the Lightning has some strong goal-scoring threats, with just 3.1 goals per game on average, they aren't quite as deadly as other teams.