This summer has seen a boom in high-value AAV contracts across the league: Leo Carlsson coming in at $18 million via offer sheet, Macklin Celebrini inking his new deal at $18.8 million.
None of those players are Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.
Everyone around the league knew the best defenseman in the modern era of the NHL would command a high dollar value, but the big question was always: How much, and for how long?
Makar was always a blank-check situation, and it seems like that mentality was fully taken advantage of.
The Avalanche announced on Friday that the wait was finally over, with Makar’s deal coming in at $136 million over eight years, $20.4M AAV, which is just shy of the $20.8M max. While a lot of the earlier-mentioned deals might set the constantly rising market for an approaching Nathan MacKinnon contract in a few years, this Makar deal sets the bar for defensive talent across the league.
But how did it come to be?
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2 Comments (1 conversation)
RockD
Having that much top end talent means the Avs are always a Cup contender.
And one thing you can count on is that as long as Bednar is the coach the guys with the huge cap hit will be on the ice for a commensurate number of minutes whether they need to be or not.
AJ Haefele
Avs peeps might be the only ones in the NHL clamoring for their team to play their best players less…and justifiably so