Avalanche, Cale Makar Closing In On Extension

Then, Makar became one of the few to have postseason experience before winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Throughout the 2019-20 season, Makar was nearly a point-per-game defenseman at 21, scoring 12 goals and 50 points in 57 games with a +12 rating, averaging 21:01 of ice time per game. Colorado likely would have been amenable if that were Makar’s ceiling, but he’s found an entirely different gear.

Since the 2020-21 season, Makar has been a finalist for the Norris Trophy every year, winning the award twice: first in 2021-22 and again in 2024-25. He’s been on a ridiculous offensive tear, scoring 124 goals and 457 points in 413 games with a +156 rating, averaging 25:19 of ice time per game.

He’s remained above a point-per-game player in the postseason, scoring 25 goals and 84 points in 80 games with a +25 rating, averaging 25:44 of ice time per game. He helped Colorado win its third Stanley Cup in franchise history, while Makar also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy.

To put Makar’s accomplishments into perspective, he already ranks 75th in all-time scoring among defensemen, and he hasn’t yet reached his 28th birthday. If he maintains his current pace and Makar reaches 1,200 games played, he will finish as the third-highest-scoring defenseman of all time, following Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey. Given the number of games played by Bourque and Coffey, it will be challenging for Makar to catch up with them, even if he increases his scoring pace.

Given the high-profile nature of his extension negotiations, much has been made of what Makar will eventually sign for. Given the other price tags signed this summer, it’s reasonable to expect that Makar could become the first NHL player to earn $20MM in yearly salary. Despite the circumstances, the Avalanche likely did not spend much time deliberating. General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic recently shared that he was confident Makar would sign an extension before the season’s start.

Inevitably, similar to the Leo Carlsson offer sheet earlier this summer, Makar’s extension will create a ripple effect around the league. Elsewhere in the Central Division, the Minnesota Wild are working through their own extension negotiations with Quinn Hughes. There was a belief that Hughes and Makar would wait each other out to use as a comparative position in their negotiations. Now that there will be a comparison for Hughes signed in the relatively near future, it’ll be interesting to see how much longer negotiations will drag out with the Wild.