Avalanche activate former Stanley Cup winner

The Colorado Avalanche announced Thursday that they’ve activated defenseman Samuel Girard from injured reserve and recalled winger Taylor Makar from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. They had three open roster spots after reassigning Jack Ahcan to the Eagles on Wednesday, so no corresponding moves are required.

So ends what had been a lengthy IR stint for the 27-year-old Girard. He only logged two appearances before sustaining an upper-body injury and being designated as week-to-week. When he returns to the lineup tonight against the Sabres, he’ll be doing so in an unfamiliar third-pairing role with Sam Malinski, per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. He’s been a top-four fixture for the better part of seven years for the Avs, but coming off a pair of underwhelming seasons in the points department, he’ll get a bit of a demotion here. There’s an understandable hesitancy to break up the Brent Burns–Josh Manson pairing that emerged in Girard’s absence, which is controlling 58.8% of expected goals and 55.3% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck.

Girard is in the penultimate season of the seven-year, $35M contract extension he signed with the Avs in 2019. At the time, it was viewed as a likely steal in the latter years of the deal, but it’s turned out closer to fair value as he’s seen his numbers dip in the past few seasons. After peaking with a 32-point effort in just 48 games in 2020-21, Girard’s offense has steadied out at around the 30-point range per season over an 82-game pace, and injuries will have limited him to fewer than 70 games in three of the last five seasons, including 2025-26. His possession metrics have taken a hit in some recent years, particularly 2024-25, when he posted a relative Corsi share of -0.9% and controlled an underwhelming 50.1% of expected goals on an Avs team that controlled nearly 54% overall.

They’re hoping some sheltered minutes can help boost his possession impacts and bring him back in line with Colorado’s dominant start to the season in virtually every area. He’ll have something of a breakout partner in Malinski, who’s rattled off eight points and a +10 rating in 17 contests despite being something of an afterthought on the Avs’ blue line.

Makar will make his second career NHL appearance tonight in a fourth-line role with Parker Kelly and Zakhar Bardakov. That duo has had Gavin Brindley as a wingman frequently this season, but the recently-extended youngster is getting a promotion to the top six on Brock Nelson’s line as Valeri Nichushkin exits the lineup with a lower-body injury that has him out week-to-week.

Cale’s younger brother was a seventh-round pick in 2021 and is in his first professional season after four years in college, three at UMass and one at Maine. The 6-foot-4 checker was buried on a deep UMass club but broke out upon transferring to Maine for his senior season, notching 18 goals, 30 points, and a +24 rating in 38 games. He hasn’t found that same offensive success in the minors, scoring once with four points in 13 games, but is a low-maintenance fourth-line fit in limited minutes.

Makar’s NHL debut came in an overtime loss to the Sharks on the first of the month. He logged eight shifts for 6:07 of ice time, managing a shot attempt and a hit.