Cale Makar opened up about his decision to remain with the Colorado Avalanche after signing an eight-year extension that will keep him in Denver through the 2034-35 season.
Cale Makar has spent nearly a decade becoming one of the defining players in Colorado Avalanche history. On Friday, the organization made sure the next chapter would be written in the same place.
The Avalanche signed Makar to an eight-year contract extension through the 2034-35 season, keeping their superstar defenseman in Colorado through his age-35 season. He still had one year remaining on his current deal, but neither side appeared interested in carrying that uncertainty into the season.
For Makar, there was never much uncertainty about where he wanted to be.
“I just really didn't see myself anywhere else,” Makar told AltitudeTV's Lauren Gardner.
Of everything Makar said Monday, that might have been the most telling.
There was plenty to discuss. The $20.4 million annual salary. The nine-year commitment. The trophies. The records. The fact that Makar has already become one of the most accomplished defensemen of his generation before turning 28.
But when it came to where he wanted to spend the next nine years of his career, Makar didn't seem to have much of a decision to make.
Colorado was home.
The Avalanche drafted Makar fourth overall in 2017, and over the past seven years, he has gone from highly touted prospect to the centerpiece of the franchise.
At 27, Makar has already established himself as one of the NHL's elite defensemen. He has been named to the NHL First All-Star Team four times and has 507 points in 470 regular-season games.
And somehow, he still talks about the future as if there is plenty left to accomplish.
“Hopefully we're not done yet,” he said.
Makar’s Roots In Colorado Run Deep
Makar arrived in Colorado as a 19-year-old fourth-overall pick carrying enormous expectations.
Then he exceeded them.
His NHL career began in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, shortly after he finished his sophomore season at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Makar had won the Hobey Baker Award, played in the NCAA championship game and, just two days later, was in the Avalanche lineup against the Calgary Flames.
He scored on his first shot.
From there, his career took off.
Makar became a Calder Trophy winner as a rookie before helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup three years later. Along the way, he established himself as one of the most dominant defensemen in the league.
He is now just the third player in NHL history to win the Calder, Norris and Conn Smythe, joining Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch.
For all of that individual success, Makar rarely talks about it as though it belongs solely to him.
“The way our team plays and the success we have, those team awards come with all that,” Makar said.
That mentality is part of what Colorado values in its franchise player.
General manager Joe Sakic has called Makar a “generational defenseman” and made it clear how important he is to the organization. Keeping him was never simply about retaining another star. Makar is the player the Avalanche want to build around for years to come.
His connection to Colorado also extends beyond hockey.
Makar and his wife, Tracy, are expecting their first child. After spending most of his adult life in the state, Colorado has become home in a way that goes beyond where he happens to play hockey.
“Colorado has truly become a second home to us,” Makar said in the team's announcement.
That makes the contract feel like more than a business decision.
Makar isn't simply staying with the Avalanche. He's choosing to continue building his life in Colorado.
The Contract Was About More Than The Money
Naturally, a contract worth $20.4 million per season was going to dominate the conversation.
There had been plenty of speculation about what Makar's next deal might look like, especially with his previous contract entering its final season.
From Makar's perspective, however, the process wasn't nearly as complicated as it may have appeared from the outside.
“There was a lot of communication from both sides at all times,” Makar said.
Getting the deal done before the season was important to him. Once it was settled, there would be no more questions about his future and no contract situation hanging over the Avalanche.
Sakic had already said publicly that he wanted Makar to finish his career in Colorado.
For Makar, hearing that from someone he respects meant something.
“That's amazing,” he said.
When Gardner suggested Sakic's confidence may have helped during the negotiations, Makar responded with a laugh.
“Probably helped with the contract negotiation,” he said.
The joke captured the relationship between the two.
Makar has immense admiration for Sakic, both for what he accomplished as a player and for the way he has helped shape the Avalanche as an executive. Sakic knows what it means to spend an entire career in one place and become synonymous with a franchise.
Makar now has the opportunity to do the same.
The Goal Hasn’t Changed
The Avalanche didn't give Makar this contract simply because of everything he has already accomplished.
They believe his best hockey may still be ahead of him.
Makar certainly does.
“We're in a sport to do one thing,” he said. “And at the end of the day, it's to win, and to win championships.”
Makar has already rewritten much of the franchise record book, becoming Colorado's all-time leader among defensemen in goals, assists and points. He also holds franchise marks for game-winning goals, power-play goals, multi-goal games, multi-assist games and multi-point performances.
Last season, he became the fourth-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 500 points, doing so in his 467th career game. He also became the first defenseman in more than three decades to record three consecutive 20-goal seasons.
For most players, a résumé like that would be enough to spend some time looking backward.
Makar doesn't seem interested in doing that.
“I want to obviously be here a long time,” he said, “and make sure that window continues to evolve, and stay open for a long time.”
That's the challenge now.
The Avalanche have committed the next nine seasons to Makar, and he has made it clear he wants to use them to chase more championships.
He already knows where he wants to do it.
Colorado.
