Cale Makar breaks Colorado Avalanche single-season record for points by defenseman

Scoring records continue to fall like dominoes almost daily during the final days of this 2021-22 NHL season, which has produced the most goals per game (6.26) since 1995-96 (6.28). Many star players are smashing team scoring marks, and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar is the latest to do so.

He already broke Sandish Ozolinsh’s single-season team record for goals by a defenseman a few weeks back, scoring for a 24^th time, and Makar has since inflated that total to 26. In Monday night’s loss to the Washington Capitals, Makar earned an assist for point No. 83 on the year. That broke the team record of 82, set by Steve Duchesne in 1992-93 when the Avalanche were the Quebec Nordiques.

The Avs still have six games remaining on their schedule, so Makar, 23, will surely put distance between himself and Duchesne in the weeks to come. Makar set the record in just 72 games. His 1.15 points per game in 2021-22 give him the second-highest scoring average of any defenseman since 1993-94, bested only by Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi, who sits at 1.19 this season. Makar is just the fifth defenseman this century to eclipse 80 points in a season.