BREAKING NEWS: Avalanche Sign Cale Makar To Record $163.2 Million Contract

Cale Makar is now the highest-paid player in NHL history.

The Colorado Avalanche signed their star defenseman to an eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension Friday, giving Makar a league-record $20.4 million annual average value and keeping him in Colorado through the 2034-35 season. The deal more than doubles his previous $9 million AAV and makes him the first player in NHL history to surpass $20 million per season.

It is a remarkable jump for a league that has seen its salary records climb quickly this summer.

On July 29, Macklin Celebrini signed a five-year, $94 million extension with the San Jose Sharks. The deal carried an $18.8 million AAV, making the 20-year-old the highest-paid player in NHL history at the time. Celebrini had surpassed Leo Carlsson's $18 million AAV, which had been the previous record.

Celebrini's record lasted less than a month. Makar's $20.4 million AAV is $1.6 million higher, making him the first player in NHL history to clear $20 million per season.

The contract also represents a massive jump for the defenseman market.

Earlier this summer, Bowen Byram signed an eight-year, $100 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, establishing a new record for a defenseman with a $12.5 million AAV. Makar's annual salary is 63.2% higher, pushing the position into an entirely different financial range.

The 27-year-old was entering the final season of the six-year, $54 million contract he signed with Colorado in July 2021. That deal carried a $9 million AAV, meaning Makar's new salary represents a 126.7% increase.

The size of the contract is significant, but Makar's résumé gives the Avalanche plenty of reason to make the investment.

Since entering the NHL in 2019, Makar has won the Calder Trophy, two Norris Trophies, a Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy. He has been named to the NHL First All-Star Team four times and the Second All-Star Team twice, with his four First-Team selections the most in Avalanche/Nordiques history. Only 13 defensemen in NHL history have been selected to at least four First All-Star Teams.

Makar has also produced at a rate rarely seen from a defenseman. He has recorded 507 points in 470 regular-season games, making him one of only three defensemen in NHL history to average at least a point per game over his career. Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey are the other two.

His playoff production has been just as impressive. Makar has 90 points in 90 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including 26 goals. Those 26 postseason goals are the most among active NHL defensemen and tied for 13th all time at the position.

During Colorado's 2022 Stanley Cup run, Makar recorded 29 points in 20 games and became the third-youngest defenseman in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. He won the Norris Trophy that same season, joining Bobby Orr and Nicklas Lidstrom as the only players to win both awards in the same year.

Makar, Orr and Brian Leetch remain the only players in NHL history to win the Calder, Norris and Conn Smythe during their careers.

Makar has continued to add to that résumé. During the 2025-26 season, he recorded 20 goals and 79 points in 75 games, leading Colorado's defensemen in goals, assists and points. His 79 points ranked third among NHL defensemen, while his 20 goals ranked sixth.

He finished second in Norris Trophy voting and became just the second player in NHL history to be a finalist for the award in six of his first seven full seasons, joining Orr. Makar also reached 500 career points during the season, doing so in his 467th game. Only Orr, Paul Coffey and Denis Potvin reached the milestone faster among defensemen.

The season before, Makar scored 30 goals and finished with 92 points in 80 games. He won his second Norris Trophy and became the first defenseman since Mike Green in 2008-09 to score 30 goals in a season.

He has now scored at least 20 goals four times and has posted two 90-point seasons, something only six defensemen in NHL history have accomplished.

For Colorado, the decision to make this kind of commitment was about more than Makar's production. The Avalanche knew they were approaching a significant point with their franchise defenseman, who had one year remaining on his contract and was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2026-27 season.

Rather than allow that situation to linger, Colorado got its cornerstone player under contract for the next eight years.

"We are beyond thrilled to get this deal done and have Cale in an Avalanche sweater for the next decade," Avalanche President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Joe Sakic said.

Sakic called Makar a "generational defenseman" and pointed to both his accomplishments and his importance to the Avalanche organization and the Colorado community.

Makar expressed a similar desire to remain in Colorado.

"I am so excited and humbled to continue to wear the Avalanche sweater and represent this incredible organization and community," Makar said.

He also described Colorado as a "second home."

The extension gives Colorado long-term certainty around one of the most important players in the franchise's history. It also removes the possibility of Makar reaching unrestricted free agency after the 2026-27 season, when he would have been one of the most coveted players on the market.

The Avalanche also avoid another situation like the one that unfolded with Mikko Rantanen, when a franchise cornerstone eventually left Colorado after contract negotiations failed to produce a long-term agreement.

This time, Colorado got its deal done well before Makar reached the open market.

The result is a contract that resets the NHL's salary structure at the very top.

Celebrini pushed the AAV record to $18.8 million on July 29. Makar has now taken it to $20.4 million, while also becoming the first defenseman to hold the league's record for highest average annual value.

For Colorado, it means keeping its franchise defenseman through 2034-35. For Makar, it is the largest financial commitment ever made to an NHL player.

And for the league, it is a new benchmark that did not exist when the summer began.