DENVER — Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar will appear on the cover of EA Sports NHL 24.
EA Sports made the announcement official Monday on social media, with a full reveal set for Wednesday, according to the NHL.
Makar helped the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup win in the 2022 season and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That same season, he won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman.
Unfortunately, being on the cover doesn't bode well for success in 2023-24 - with only two of the past 27 EA NHL cover players making it past the first round that season.
Can Makar and the Avalanche avoid a similar fate?
"I do think the Avalanche are obviously good enough to make the postseason," says Seth Toupal of Locked on NHL, while Nick Morgan adds the Central Division is no easy path to the Stanley Cup.
Having said that, perhaps the Avalanche jinx already played itself out this past season. Colorado was bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the second year Seattle Kraken while dealing with major injuries and some off ice issues along the way.
The Avalanche should be much harder to play against this season after having added Ross Colton, Miles Wood, Ryan Johansen and Jonathan Drouin.
Colorado added depth and grit up front in order to compliment the core of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Makar and try to take the Cup back from the reigning champs in Las Vegas.
Looking back at that list of cover stars who flamed out in the playoffs, it can be argued Makar plays on the best team at this point in his career, and the Avalanche very much remain in the contender category. If anyone can shake off this curse, it's Makar.