Cale Makar makes Avs history as NHL recognizes its All-Star Teams

The NHL named Cale Makar to its First All-Star Team, the fourth time he's earned the honor — while Nathan MacKinnon joined him on the postseason ledger

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Jun 12, 2026, 12:33 PM

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Cale Makar keeps rewriting the Colorado Avalanche record books, and Friday he carved out a spot all his own.

The NHL named Makar to its First All-Star Team for the 2025-26 season, the fourth time he’s earned the honor — more than any skater in Avalanche/Nordiques history. It’s also his seventh career postseason team selection, another franchise first, and another honor that has him in the company of players like Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr.

Makar, 27, has landed on a First Team, Second Team or All-Rookie Team every year since his first full NHL campaign in 2019-20. Only Bourque (17) and Orr (nine) have opened their careers with longer streaks among defensemen. The Norris runner-up piled up 79 points (20 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games and reached 500 career points faster than all but three blueliners in league history.

Nathan MacKinnon joined him on the postseason ledger, tabbed as the center for the Second All-Star Team. It’s the sixth All-Star nod of MacKinnon’s career, tying him with Michel Goulet for the second-most in franchise history. The 30-year-old’s three Second Team selections are the most any Avalanche/Nordiques player has ever collected.

MacKinnon delivered an MVP-caliber season anyway, winning his first Rocket Richard Trophy with a league-best 53 goals and finishing third in scoring with 127 points. He set a franchise record with 97 even-strength points, the most in a single season since Wayne Gretzky in 1990-91.

It marks the third straight year the Avs have placed multiple players on the postseason teams and the 11th time overall.

One Avalanche snub stood out: goaltender Scott Wedgewood was left off the teams despite pacing the entire NHL in save percentage and goals-against average. He finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting.

Makar and MacKinnon also shared the ice for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, bringing home silver. Makar earned a spot on the Olympic All-Star Team and scored Canada’s lone goal in the Gold Medal Game.