The Colorado Avalanche have locked up Cale Makar with a deal that resets the NHL market.
On Friday, the team announced an eight-year contract extension for the defenseman that will begin in the 2027-28 season and run through 2034-35. The agreement carries a $20.4 million average annual value, making Makar the highest-paid player in NHL history. That figure lands just below the maximum cap hit allowed under the CBA, which is $20.8 million.
For Makar, it’s a massive jump from the six-year extension he signed in July 2021, a contract that carried a $9 million AAV. The new $163.2 million deal puts him well ahead of the previous top earners at the time of their signings, Anaheim Ducks forward Lucas Carlsson at $18 million AAV and Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov at $17 million.
The size of the contract matches the kind of player Makar has become. Since arriving with the Avalanche in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Calgary native has established himself as the defining defenseman of the modern era - steady in his own end, dangerous in transition, and flat-out lethal when he gets moving with the puck. He’s the rare blue liner who can control a game at both ends and still tilt the ice offensively.
His production backs up the reputation. Over seven full seasons, the 27-year-old has averaged a point per game and has reached 90 points twice.
His best offensive season came in 2024-25, when he scored a career-high 30 goals and finished with 92 points. Injuries trimmed him to 75 points this past year, but he still scored at least 20 goals for the third straight season and totaled 79 points.
That performance helped Colorado capture the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time since 2021, though the Avalanche were eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
Makar’s résumé already stacks up with the game’s elite. He won the Calder Trophy in 2019-20, then added Norris Trophies in 2021-22 and 2024-25. He also played a major role in helping Colorado win the franchise’s third Stanley Cup in 2022.
The numbers only deepen the case. In 470 regular-season games, Makar has 136 goals and 371 assists for 507 points, putting him 10th in franchise scoring, ninth in assists and fourth in plus/minus at +168. In 90 postseason games, he has 90 points, which ranks fifth in Avalanche history.
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Cale Makar Is Building Something Special In Avalanche History
Cale Makar has already carved out a place in Avalanche history that most defensemen never come close to reaching. He owns the franchise marks among Colorado blueliners for goals, assists, points, power-play goals and power-play points in both the regular season and the playoffs, a rsum that keeps growing every time he steps on the ice.
Since breaking into the NHL, Makar has set the standard for offense from the blue line, leading defensemen in goals, points and playoff goals. The hardware has followed too, from the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2019-20 to Norris Trophy wins in 2022 and 2025, with his Conn Smythe Trophy from the Avalanche's 2022 Stanley Cup run serving as another reminder that his history in Denver is still being written. [Read more 🡒]