Makar's record 8-year, $163.2 million contract a necessity for Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche clearly understand the value Cale Makar brings to their team.

That's why they had no issue signing their star defenseman to an eight-year, $163.2 million contract on Friday. The deal, which begins next season, has an average annual value of $20.4 million, making it the richest contract in NHL history.

Makar's contract comes less than a year since the Avalanche signed forward Martin Necas to an eight-year, $92 million contract ($11.5 million AAV) on Oct. 30, 2025. Center Nathan MacKinnon, meanwhile, is entering the fourth season of an eight-year, $100.8 million contract ($12.6 AAV) he signed on Sept. 20, 2022.

The three contracts alone total $44.5 million annually, which will amount to 39.2 percent of the projected NHL salary cap ($113.5 million upper limit) in 2027-28, when Makar's contract begins.

However, any suggestions that it might be more difficult for Colorado to win the Stanley Cup with a roster featuring highly-paid stars, as opposed to a more balanced group, is one president of hockey operations Joe Sakic disagrees with.

“You can’t win without superstars,” Sakic said on Monday. “You need depth and you need your team playing really well at the right time. When it comes to playoffs, you need bounces, but you need players to be healthy. We ran into the injury bug a little bit last year, especially with Cale.

“We had a bad week that cost us, but we had a team that was built to win. It didn’t happen, but we expect our team to be built to win for a long time. But unless you have guys like Cale and Nate on your team, it makes it a lot harder.”

Sakic is speaking from experience.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche as a player (1996, 2001), Sakic was also Colorado's general manager when it won its last championship in 2022.

During that most recent Stanley Cup run, the Avalanche were led by none other than Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs after putting up 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 20 games. MacKinnon, for his part, tied for the NHL lead with 13 goals and was third on Colorado with 24 points in 20 games.

“For our organization, we have a guy like Cale signed long term, we have Nathan, we have Marty signed long term, it makes it easier on your other decisions,” Sakic said. “We have a couple of generational players in (Makar) and Nathan, and when you have that, you make sure they’re being paid right where they’re supposed to be. Now for us it’s building the team around those two, but when you know their numbers, it’s a lot easier to do.”

Furthering his point, last season proved just how valuable Makar is to Colorado.

During the regular season, the Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best record (55-16-11). They then went on to sweep the Los Angeles Kings during the Western Conference First Round, but Makar sustained an upper-body injury during the second round against the Minnesota Wild and was forced to miss the first two games of the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Colorado would lose Games 1 and 2 to Vegas, and even after the two-time Norris Trophy winner (2021-22, 2024-25) returned, it was clear he was not at 100 percent.

The Golden Knights would ultimately sweep the Avalanche before losing in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final.

“Cale plays 30 minutes a night and everybody is slotted behind him,” Sakic said. “To miss him on the ice for those two games, you’re in the conference final against a really good team, and you need your stars to be on the ice for you and you need them to play well. That definitely hurt. It was a big reason why we were 0-2 and a big reason why we lost the series.”

For Makar, the goal this season is making sure he can help the team complete the job.

“As a player, all you ask for is to win, and obviously we did that once and I really don’t want that to be the end because once you feel it, you want to get it again,” Makar said. “To know we have these pieces locked up and we found success in previous years -- yeah, it’s been a couple of tough endings recently -- but to know we have the group that’s capable of doing it when we’re all rolling and doing the right things, that definitely plays a factor in the role.”

To that end, that's why signing for the full eight years was so important to Makar.

“I think it gives us a lot of clarity in the sense of the direction we want to go in, hopefully being able to succeed in the next nine years, and have that stability in knowing that the contract is there and we have the pieces that we can build around," he said.

“I think for myself, everybody talks about this window that we’re in right now and the ability we have to win. We feel that, but at the same time, I think that window is extended. I think my term of the deal should reflect how I feel this team should go success-wise and the opportunity we’re going to have over that time to win championships.”