Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche are no strangers to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Avs have made it to the dance eight years in a row, and in all six years with their superstar defenseman in the fold, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2022-23.
However, since that magical run, the Avalanche have won just one playoff round in the three years to follow, falling in the first round twice in that span. While they can’t put all of the blame on it, Makar himself isn’t a huge fan of the divisional and wild-card seeding format that came into effect beginning in 2013-14.
When asked about it at the recent NHL Player Media Tour, he suggested going back to the one-through-eight conference matchups. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski shared his comments on X (formerly Twitter).
“I feel like all the players want back to 1 to 8. I think that’s a thing that we’d like, but I get it. I understand the playoff format now. It makes the road harder sometimes,” Makar said.
“I mean, if you’re from Edmonton or L.A., I’d say so, yeah. Sometimes you get a good matchup, and sometimes you’re playing a top-six team with another top-six team, like we did this past year. That’s the way she goes,” Makar added.
Here’s the full quote from @Avalanche star Cale Makar on the Stanley Cup Playoff format.
Full story here: https://t.co/bL16kCsEH7 https://t.co/RAP7eCQT86 pic.twitter.com/bA3JDRRiev
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 15, 2025
Makar and the three-seeded Avalanche lost a hard-fought, back-and-forth seven-game series to the two-seeded Dallas Stars in round 1 last postseason.
Who would Colorado have played in 1 versus 8 format?
With Cale Makar making the topic more prevalent, it makes you wonder how things could have been different for the Colorado Avalanche had the playoffs been in the old format.
Colorado finished fifth overall in the Western Conference, which would have had them pegged to take on the fourth-seeded LA Kings in round one. While the Kings are a tough opponent, it’s certainly a much different task than trying to take down a juggernaut like the Stars in the first round.
Unfortunately for Makar and the Avs, it’s unlikely that Gary Bettman will change things anytime soon, which means that without winning the Central Division, they could be in for yet another tough battle to start the postseason in 2025-26.
