The Colorado Avalanche have locked up their cornerstone defenseman with the biggest contract in NHL history. Cale Makar agreed to an eight-year, $163.2 million extension on Friday, with an average annual value of $20.4 million — the first $20 million-per-season deal in league history.
A record deal for a record defenseman
Makar, 27, was set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season, the final year of his six-year, $54 million contract. Instead, he will stay in Colorado through the 2034-35 season. The maximum a player could earn under the salary cap rules was $20.8 million per season, so the new deal sits just below the ceiling.
The Calgary native was drafted fourth overall in 2017 and has been a Norris Trophy finalist as the league's top defenseman for six consecutive seasons. He made his NHL debut in the 2019 playoffs and has been a driving force for the Avalanche ever since.
What the extension means for Colorado
The Avalanche posted the best record in the NHL last season, winning 55 games and capturing their second President's Trophy in six years, before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Keeping Makar gives the team a stable core as it pushes for another title run.
The deal also resets the market for elite defensemen around the league. Other teams with star blue-liners now face the question of what a franchise defenseman is worth, with Makar's record number setting a new benchmark.
Makar won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 2022 and helped the Avalanche capture the Stanley Cup that same year. He has now been a Norris finalist for six straight seasons, a run of consistency matched by few players at any position. The extension keeps him under contract through his mid-30s, giving Colorado certainty on its salary cap for years to come. General managers around the league will watch closely to see how the deal shapes the next round of negotiations with star defensemen on other teams.