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CALGARY, Alberta — — A college kid making his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
Bank on it.
In the form of a 20-year-old Cale Makar, help in all areas of the ice is on the way for the Avalanche.
Colorado is poised to sign the highly coveted University of Massachusetts sophomore defenseman immediately after the Minutemen's Saturday NCAA championship game in Buffalo, N.Y., the Avs said Saturday before facing the Calgary Flames in Game 2 of its first-round series at Scotiabank Saddledome.
It's unknown if Makar, the Avs' 2017 first-round draft pick and 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey's best player, will make his NHL debut in Game 3 at the Pepsi Center or delay it until next season to preserve the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract.