The NHL has its first $20 million man. Friday, the Avalanche announced an eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension with Cale Makar. The average annual value comes in at $20.4 million, handing the 27-year-old star defenseman the highest AAV in league history. It’s just below the league maximum at $20.8M, and the total contract, beginning for the 2027–28 season, is the largest in NHL history.
Makar’s landmark agreement comes just a month after Sharks center Macklin Celebrini set a new high-water mark at $18.8 million AAV as part of a five-year, $94 million deal. Though bigger, Makar’s deal similarly contains eye-popping signing bonuses: In the final year, at age 36, Makar will be guaranteed a whopping $18.8 million.
The highest NHL AAV has now been smashed four times throughout the past year—and three times this summer alone.
In September 2025, Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov signed a then-record $136 million, eight-year extension at $17 million AAV, resetting the market for the league’s stars. In July, offer-sheet drama surrounding Leo Carlsson pushed the Ducks to sign the center to a five-year, $90 million deal with an $18 million AAV. But just weeks later, Celebrini agreed to his contract, and Makar knocked him off less than a month after that.
Makar is the only defenseman of the four. Along with setting a new high bar in the sport, his deal also ratchets up the market for the NHL’s other top defensemen, whose new contracts are imminent: particularly Quinn Hughes, who was moved to Minnesota in a blockbuster trade last season; and Matthew Schaefer of the Islanders, who is coming off of a Calder Trophy–winning season during which he banked rookie records.
Colorado snuck in the eight-year agreement before the NHL’s new CBA kicks in. Beginning Sept. 16, max-term contracts shorten by a year: seven for a player signing with his current team, and six for free agents. Under the new CBA, the salary cap will spike for the next several years, which may make max-term deals like Makar’s increasingly unusual as players sign shorter deals for a potentially bigger payday down the line.
