Making his Olympic Debut this year, Cale Makar has been named as one of Team Canada's Alternate Captains alongside Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid. Sidney Crosby, to no ones surprise, is Team Canada's captain once more.
Makar, McDavid and Crosby were also the leadership group for Team Canada in last year's 4 Nations tournament. Crosby is the only member of the group with previous Olympic experience, as the NHL has not sent players to the winter events since 2017. Drafted in the 2017 draft, Makar has played for Canada on several other international teams, but this will be the first time he does so with an Olympic medal on the line, though that hasn't seemed to be a cause for any concern on Team Canada's staff, nor should it be considering his career accolades.
Overqualified
Coming off a year in which he won the Norris Trophy and led Team Canada in time on ice during the 4 Nations tourney, Makar has been his usual dynamic self on the blue line for the Colorado Avalanche. The Calgary born blueliner is the only defenseman in the leadership group for Team Canada and is also the youngest of the trio at age 28. However, Makar has been wearing an "A" on his chest for the Avs for the past four and a half years, including the year they won the Stanley Cup so it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment.
Makar figures to be playing top pairing minutes for the Canadian squad. With 57 points (15 goals, 42 assists) so far in the NHL's regular season, Makar's offensive output on his way to potentially back to back Norris Trophy seasons should be a welcome addition even on a stacked Canadian group that has three of the NHL's points leaders in the forward group alone.
But it isn't like Makar has been slacking on the defensive end either, as he currently owns a +28 +/- and a +4 defensive rating according to Hockeystatcard.com. They'll need a lot of good efforts on the back end as they face off against the high powered Team Sweden being led by Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog as well as Team USA, which boasts its own impressive collection of NHL regulars like Auston Matthews and Matt Boldy.