A big issue the Colorado Avalanche face this season is that Martin Necas and his expiring contract this summer set him up to be an unrestricted free agent. The Avalanche have been in this position before, last season, and their experience with trying to re-sign Mikko Rantanen ultimately led to trading him to the Carolina Hurricanes and acquiring Necas in a package deal. While Necas might not command the same extension price that Rantanen received from the Dallas Stars after being traded from the Hurricanes, an insider speculates that he would be “shocked” if the Avalanche agreed to extend Necas.
An October 9 report by James Murphy of RG Media cited an anonymous NHL scout who stated:
“I’d be stunned if he even finishes the season with the Avalanche, let alone extends in Colorado.”
This past summer has been another roller coaster of news, rumours, and speculations about the Avalanche's talks and discussions with Necas’ camp, including rumours of Necas being “happy” in Colorado in the first place.
There are a couple of benefactors really setting the market for wingers in the NHL, one obviously being the cap set to increase drastically over the coming seasons, and the other being what other wingers in the NHL are getting in their new deals. The Vegas Golden Knights traded and extended key free agent Mitch Marner to an 8x12 deal worth 96$ million this past free agency, and recently just extended Jack Eichel to an 8x13.5 deal worth $108 million.
The Winnipeg Jets have just extended Kyle Connor to an 8-year, $12 million contract worth $96 million. So, if you're Necas and his camp, you're looking at a deal in the ballpark of $10.5 million to $12 million. So even if the Avalanche can find a number they want to extend him at, can they afford it in the long term? The informed source retorts:
“I don’t see how the Avalanche make it happen with Necas.”
One can easily argue against this based on his career statistics compared to the other players mentioned. Necas has never approached 100 points; his highest total was 71 during the 2022-23 season, and he has never scored more than 30 goals in a season, with a personal best of 28 goals in that same 2022-23 season. Although those are fair reasons to argue, they have another crucial contract to extend, one that is even more important than Necas's, the source explains:
"They need to lock up Cale Makar next offseason, and even with the cap going up, where are they finding the money to give Necas? So now the real question to me is, will the Avalanche keep him as their own playoff rental at the trade deadline, or will he go to another team as a rental and sign an extension with them?"
Makar is in his own ballpark when it comes to what his next contract extension could look like and how it sets the stage for future defenseman contracts. We already saw Kirill Kaprizov and his massive 8x17 deal worth $136 million, and we all expect that once that absolute bargain of an extension from Connor McDavid is up, he will easily command more than $17 million per year. As stated, yes, the cap is increasing from $95.5 million this season to $104 million next season, then to $113 million in the 2027-28 season. The Avalanche still needs to be smart with how much they spread their cap out.
Inside Report: Where Cale Makar’s Extension Preparations Stand
A major storyline to follow this upcoming summer will be Cale Makar’s availability for a contract extension. Currently in the second-to-last year of his six-year, $54 million contract, which carries a cap hit of $9 million per season, his upcoming extension could break records based on his performance during his current contract.
According to the source’s reports, some teams could be interested in acquiring him and extending him, teams like the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks, who have the cap space to do so, but have a lot of young talent prospects whose contracts are expiring soon, so they might be out of the picture. But keep an eye out for the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have Stanley Cup aspirations and want that next-level addition to their top-six to make that deep run to do so.
So, if the Avalanche is trading Necas, it has two paths to take:
Option A: Trade him to a young team who are still rebuilding, the Sharks or the Ducks, and could net you the best value trade package of prospects and picks, but you help a Western Conference team make that next push in the rebuild and face them multiple times in the coming seasons.
Option B: Trade him to an Eastern Conference team, yes, helping a Stanley Cup-contending team, but you would see them less in the regular sason and only in the playoffs if both teams make the Stanley Cup finals, and arguably have to settle for a “lesser” trade package as both teams don’t have a plethora of picks and quality prospects to trade for.
The Avalanche will need to be wise with this situation. Already in two games this season, Necas has two goals and an assist for three points. If the season continues, and he maintains this production, he will likely only ask for more based on his current performance.
The team is in win-now mode, so if they do trade him, unless it's another player who could fit into the top-six, prospects and picks only help down the road unless they're flipped for another player who can help win games now. So, unless we see Makar take a page out of McDavid’s book and take a bridge deal, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out throughout the season.
Colorado Avalanche to Revive Nordiques Look as Teased Third Jersey
The Colorado Avalanche have posted on X of what could be the third jerseys they will use this season, the Quebec Nordiques jerseys that was used before they relocated to Denver Colorado