Cale Makar made history and set the salary bar for elite NHL defensemen Friday by signing an 8-year, $163 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche. It has an average annual value of $20.4 million, the first deal in League history to go over $20M a year.
But how long will he have the contract with the highest AAV in the NHL?
Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, Matthew Schaefer and select other defensemen stand to benefit eventually from Makar's contractual windfall as the NHL salary cap rises, potentially climbing to north of $120 million in two seasons and $130 million in three, while average annual values on contracts soar to higher than $20 million.
Makar's new deal begins in the 2027-28 season. It shatters Bowen Byram's $12.5 million AAV on the six-year contract he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 1 that also begins next season.
Makar is the first NHL player to top the $20 million AAV threshold, which makes considerable sense as he is the NHL's leading scorer among defensemen since he's been in the League (507 points since 2019-20), a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the League's best defenseman (2022, 2025), a finalist for each of the past six seasons, and the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Now all eyes turn to Hughes, the Minnesota Wild defenseman, who is in the final season of a six-year contract with a $7.85 million AAV; he's been eligible to sign a new contract since July 1.
With Makar signed, the Hughes camp, including agent Pat Brisson, has a target number to match or exceed in negotiations with the Wild.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on his most recent "32 Thoughts" podcast that he doesn't believe Hughes and the Wild have been having regular discussions about a new contract.
The NHL salary cap is $104 million this season, up 8.9 percent from $95.5 million last season. It is projected to go to $113.5 million next season, which would be a 9.1 percent increase.
If Hughes doesn't sign with Minnesota, his future will be a storyline all season until he's either traded or hits the open market July 1, 2027.
If Hughes signs with the Wild, the conversation will turn to next offseason when Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Schaefer of the New York Islanders can sign new contracts that would begin in the 2028-29 season, when the cap could exceed $120 million.
Werenski has two seasons remaining on his six-year, $57.5 million contract ($9.583 million AAV). He won the Norris Trophy as the League's best defenseman last season.
Schaefer has two years left on his three-year, entry-level contract. He won the Calder Trophy as the League's rookie of the year last season after being the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Werenski will be 30 when his next contract begins. That could impact his next deal and keep it slightly below Makar's AAV and potentially, or eventually, Hughes'. Makar will be 28 and Hughes 27 when next season begins.
Schaefer, provided he builds on his impressive rookie season, could follow the path of Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks, Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks and Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Celebrini (five years, $18.5 million AAV), Carlsson (five years, $18.0 million AAV) and Bedard (five years, $15 million AAV) became among the highest paid players in the League in their second contracts. Makar got there in his third. Hughes will do the same.
Next offseason is when Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be eligible to sign new contracts. They each could exceed $20 million in AAV.
But from the blue line perspective, fast forward to the summer of 2028 and it's possible Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars, Adam Fox of the New York Rangers and Evan Bouchard of the Oilers become the next among the highest paid defensemen.
Bouchard ($10.5 million AAV), Fox ($9.5 million AAV), and Heiskanen ($8.45 million AAV) each have three years remaining on his contract and will be eligible to sign new deals July 1, 2028. Bouchard and Heiskanen will be 28 years old at that time. Fox will be 30.
Considering where the cap and AAVs are going, it underlines the importance and value associated with the League's best defensemen in their early-to-mid 20s who are already under contract beyond the timeline of the new five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement, which begins this season and runs until Sept. 15, 2030.
Lane Hutson, the 22-year-old No. 1 defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens, is entering the first season of an eight-year contract with an $8.85 million AAV. That already seems like a bargain for the Canadiens, value that will continue to rise as Hutson's game matures.
Similarly, Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars ($10.587 million AAV) and Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks ($9.0 million AAV) are both 25 and going into the first season of eight-year contracts.
Under the current CBA terms, Hutson, Harley and LaCombe wouldn't be eligible to sign a new contract until 2033.
Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres is in the third season of an eight-year contract ($11.0 million AAV). He's 26. Jake Sanderson, 24, of the Ottawa Senators is in the same situation, the third season of a contract with an $8.05 million AAV.
Moritz Seider, who is 25, is going into the third year of a seven-year contract ($8.55 million) with the Detroit Red Wings.
There will be many contracts registered between now and when Hutson, Harley, LaCombe, Dahlin, Sanderson, Seider and others become eligible to sign new deals that will impact them. But those deals, the AAV in particular, will trace back to Makar's new contract.
In many ways, he sets the bar with his play on the ice every game and every season.
Without question he set the bar off the ice Friday.
