The Colorado Avalanche are making two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar the highest-paid player in the NHL.
The Avalanche and Makar announced Friday they have agreed to an extension.
The deal is an eight-year, $163.2 million deal worth a record $20.4 million AAV, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and the Denver Gazette‘s Evan Rawal.
The news comes after Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said earlier this summer Makar would “finish his career” with Colorado.
The contract, which beats the previous record of $18.8 million AAV set by San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini, will keep Makar in Denver through his age-35 season in 2034-35.
Makar is heading into his eighth regular season in Colorado, where he played a key role in the Avs’ run to the 2022 Stanley Cup.
He was previously set to hit free agency in 2027 after playing out the final season of his previous six-year, $9 million AAV contract.
That tied for 12th in terms of average salary among all NHL defensemen last season, per Spotrac.
Makar will now rank No. 1 after finishing the 2025-26 season as a Norris Trophy finalist for the sixth straight season.
He earned his raise after ranking third both among Avalanche skaters and all NHL defensemen with 79 points (20 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games.
Makar played key roles on both the Avs’ penalty kill, on which he ranked sixth on the team in ice time, and on the power play, where he ranked third.
The Avalanche spent 45.3 percent of their time in the offensive zone when Makar was on the ice, higher than the league average of 42.3 percent, per NHL Edge.
NHL Edge reports Makar also ranked in the 99th percentile of NHL defenders with a top skating speed of 23.68 miles per hour.
His impact on the Avalanche was made even clearer during the playoffs, during which the Avs struggled and were eventually limited from the Western Conference Final in part because of Makar’s injury limitations.
The Avalanche will now hope having Makar and Nathan MacKinnon under contract for the next few seasons will allow this team to contend for another Stanley Cup in the near future.
The Avs also have Devon Toews signed through the 2030-31 season, giving the team top defensemen on both the right and left side of the blue line.
Colorado could now look to either run things back with Toews and Makar at the top or shuffle pairings after re-signing left-side defensemen Brett Kulak and Josh Manson this offseason.
Makar was selected by the Avs with the No. 4 pick of the 2017 draft and has since established himself as one of the league’s best offensive blueliners. No defenseman has recorded more goals (136) or points (507) since Makar made his regular-season debut in 2019.
