DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization has signed defenseman Cale Makar to an eight-year contract extension through the 2034-35 season. Makar has one year remaining on his current six-year deal that he signed on July 24, 2021.
Selected by Colorado in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Makar is a Stanley Cup champion (2022), a two-time Norris Trophy winner (2021-22 and 2024-25), took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2022 and Calder Trophy in 2019-20. He is one of 14 skaters to win multiple Norris Trophies, with Erik Karlsson the only other active defenseman to do so.
“Today is an exciting day for the Avalanche organization and our wonderful fans,” said Avalanche President of Hockey Operations/General Manager Joe Sakic. “Cale is a generational defenseman and his accomplishments speak for themselves. He is obviously a tremendous competitor and player but even more so a great person, teammate and ambassador for the Avalanche and the Rocky Mountain region. We are beyond thrilled to get this deal done and have Cale in an Avalanche sweater for the next decade.”
“I am so excited and humbled to continue to wear the Avalanche sweater and represent this incredible organization and community,” said Makar. “I would like to thank the Kroenke family, Joe Sakic and the entire Avalanche organization for their commitment, trust and belief in me. I would also like to thank my wife and family for their constant support, as well as Scott, Brian and Steve Bartlett for their guidance and assistance.
“To the Avalanche fans, thank you for your continued support and for welcoming us to Colorado years ago. Colorado has truly become a second home to us, and we are so grateful to be here. I look forward to getting back on the ice with my teammates and continuing to work toward our goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to the Mile High City.”
A native of Calgary, Alberta, Makar has been named to the NHL First All-Star Team on four occasions and the NHL Second All-Star Team twice. His six total postseason All-Star Team selections and four First Team honors are the most in franchise history. Only 13 other defensemen in NHL history have been selected to four or more First All-Star Teams. Cale was also named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2019-20.
Makar, 27, has recorded 507 career points (136g/371a) in 470 regular-season games, one of only three defensemen in history to average at least a point per game during their career (Bobby Orr 1.39; Paul Coffey 1.09). Among franchise defensemen, Makar is the all-time leader in career goals, assists, points, game-winning tallies (28), power-play markers (45), multi-goal games (18), multi-assist performances (77), multi-point outings (135), games of three or more points (46) and outings of four or more points (6).
Makar has added 90 points (26g/64a) in 90 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, the fifth-highest points-per-game by a blueliner in NHL postseason history (min. 50 GP). The 26 playoff tallies are the most of any active NHL defenseman and tied for the 13th-most ever by a rearguard.
During the 2025-26 season, the 6-foot, 187-pound defenseman was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy, becoming the second player ever to be a finalist in six of his first seven full seasons (also Orr). Makar led the Avalanche blueline in points (79), goals (20) and assists (59) while appearing in 75 games. His 79 points finished third among NHL defensemen, while his 59 assists tied for fourth and 20 goals ranked sixth. Cale reached the 20-goal mark for the third straight year, becoming the first defenseman to post three consecutive 20-goal seasons since Phil Housley and Al MacInnis both did so 34 years ago. This marked the rearguard’s fourth 20-goal season overall, one of only 12 defensemen in history to post at least four 20-goal campaigns. Sixteen of his 20 goals came at even strength, third among NHL defenders. Cale led the team and finished eighth in the league in average ice time (24:51).
Last season saw Makar record his 500th NHL point in his 467th career game on March 28 against Winnipeg, becoming the fourth-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 500 points behind Orr (396 games), Coffey (422) and Denis Potvin (465).
In his second Norris Trophy campaign of 2024-25, Makar led all NHL blueliners in goals (30) and assists (62), with the 30 goals and 92 points breaking his own franchise records for a defenseman. He netted his 30th marker on April 3, 2025 at Columbus to become the first defenseman to reach the 30-goal mark since Mike Green in 2008-09 with Washington. In fact, the Avs’ alternate captain was just the ninth different blueliner in history (18th instance) to hit the 30-goal mark, joining Orr (five times), Coffey (four times), Potvin (three times), Ray Bourque, Kevin Hatcher, Phil Housley, Doug Wilson and Green.
Makar also owns the Avalanche/Nordiques single-season record for assists by a defenseman with 69 (21g/69a) set in 2023-24. During his seven NHL seasons, Makar has posted two different 90-point campaigns – one of six defensemen ever to do that – and has topped 20 goals on four occasions, one of 12 players all-time to do that at his position. He’s the only rearguard to accomplish both feats with the Avalanche/Nordiques.
In 2021-22, Makar became the third-youngest defenseman ever to win the Conn Smythe (23 years, 239 days) behind only Orr with the 1969-70 Bruins (22 years, 51 days) and Serge Savard with the 1968-69 Canadiens (23 years, 102 days). Cale’s 29 points (8g/21a) marked the sixth time a defenseman paced the Stanley Cup champion joining Leetch (1994 Rangers), MacInnis (1989 Flames), J.C. Tremblay (1966 Canadiens), Tim Horton (1962 Maple Leafs) and Pierre Pilote (1961 Black Hawks). Makar received his first Norris Trophy that same year, becoming the third player to win both awards in the same season, following Orr in 1970 and Nicklas Lidstrom in 2002. Makar, Orr and Leetch remain the only players in NHL history to win a Calder Trophy, Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy in their career.
In addition to setting franchise benchmarks for goals, assists and points by a defenseman in one playoff year, Makar in 2022 also set an Avalanche/Nordiques playoff record for assists in one year by any player. The point total was the second highest in franchise history for one playoff year, behind only Sakic’s 34 (18g/16a) in 1996. Individual accomplishments from Makar that postseason included tying the single-game franchise playoff record with five points (1g/4a) in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at Edmonton (June 6), which also marked the first time a defenseman recorded five points in a potential series-clinching game. Makar also registered 10 points (3g/7a) in the first-round sweep over Nashville, the most ever by an NHL defenseman in a four-game series.
Makar won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2019-20, becoming the first defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques history to be named the league's rookie of the year. He was the sixth player in franchise history to win the award and the fourth since the team relocated to Denver, joining Chris Drury (1998-99), Gabriel Landeskog (2011-12) and Nathan MacKinnon (2013-14). Peter Stastny (1980-81) and Peter Forsberg (1994-95) both won the Calder during the organization's time in Quebec. At the time, Makar was the 12th defenseman in NHL history to win the Calder and remains the most recent instance of an Avalanche being named to an NHL All-Rookie Team. Prior to that, the last Avalanche defenseman to receive that recognition was John-Michael Liles in 2003-04.
The then-21-year-old finished second among all NHL rookies in scoring during the 2019-20 season with 50 points (12g/38a) in 57 games. His 0.88 points-per-game average led all first-year players and tied for the third-highest total by a rookie defenseman in NHL history (min. 30 GP). Only Leetch (1.04 in 1988-89) and Murphy (0.95 in 1980-81) averaged more.
Prior to turning pro, Makar spent two seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst were he became the first player in school history to win the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore in 2018-19. He led the Minutemen to their first-ever No. 1 ranking that year and eventually made it all the way to the 2019 NCAA Frozen Four Championship Game. Seventy-two hours after winning the Hobey Baker and 48 hours after playing in the NCAA title game, Makar made his NHL debut and scored his first goal on his first shot in the opening period of Colorado's Game 3 victory against Calgary in Round 1 on April 15, 2019. He became the first defenseman in NHL history to score his first career goal while making his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The highest-drafted defenseman by the Avalanche since the franchise relocated to Denver, Makar was named the 2016-17 Canadian Junior Hockey League's Most Valuable Player, Alberta Junior Hockey League Most Valuable Player and the AJHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman in his final season with the Brooks Bandits. He remains the highest drafted player to be selected directly out of the AJHL.
Internationally, Makar was named to the 2026 Olympic All-Star Team after helping Canada to the silver medal. He led Canada’s defense with six points (2g/4a) in six contests during the Olympics, a total that tied him for second among all tournament defensemen. Makar earned a gold medal for Canada at the 4 Nations Faceoff in 2025 and the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.
