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Four-panel comic about Cale Makar’s record Avalanche contract: he signs, a scoreboard shows 8 years, $163.2 million, and $20.4 million AAV, teammates say the bar just moved, then he skates toward a decade in Colorado.
Four panels: the signing, the $20.4M scoreboard, the bar moves, a decade in Colorado. · Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: NHL.com, Aug. 28, 2026.

Sports

The NHL’s first $20 million man is a defenseman

What happened

Cale Makar became the NHL’s first $20 million man on Friday. The Colorado Avalanche defenseman signed an eight-year, $163.2 million extension that starts next season, with an average annual value of $20.4 million. NHL.com calls it the richest contract in league history, ahead of Kirill Kaprizov’s eight-year, $136 million deal and Macklin Celebrini’s $18.8 million AAV. He is also the first player with an AAV of at least $20 million. The deal runs through 2034-35. Makar, 27, had been eligible to sign since July 1. Avalanche president Joe Sakic had said he wanted an agreement before training camp, and on Sunday he had still been talking, pretty confident it would be done before the season.

Makar said he was excited and humbled to keep wearing the sweater, thanked the Kroenke family, Sakic, his wife and family, and his agents at Bartlett Hockey, and called Colorado a second home. Sakic called him a generational defenseman, a competitor, and an ambassador for the Rocky Mountain region. Last season Makar had 79 points (20 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games, third among NHL defensemen, and finished second to Zach Werenski in Norris Trophy voting. He is a two-time Norris winner (2022, 2025) and the Conn Smythe winner from Colorado’s 2022 Cup run. He is already the franchise leader among Avalanche and Nordiques defensemen in goals, assists, and points.

Why it matters

The contract resets the market for elite defensemen. Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes is in the last year of a $7.85 million AAV deal and has been eligible to sign since July 1. The NHL salary cap is $104 million this season, up from $95.5 million, and is projected at $113.5 million next season. Other blueliners, including Werenski and New York’s Matthew Schaefer later, will bargain against that new number as the cap keeps climbing. Makar reached 500 points last season in 467 games, fourth-fastest among defensemen behind Orr, Coffey, and Potvin. He has four 20-goal seasons, and three in a row, the first defenseman to do that since Housley and MacInnis in 1992.

He was banged up in the West Final, missed the first two games against Vegas with an upper-body injury, returned for Games 3 and 4, and Colorado was swept. Sakic said he expects a healthy roster at camp. Colorado opens Sept. 30 against the Kings at Ball Arena. The money is the headline. The hockey fact under it is that a 27-year-old who already owns the franchise defenseman records is now paid like the league’s first $20 million player.

Conclusion

Makar is Colorado’s for the next decade at a number no NHL contract had reached. The bar for Hughes and the rest of the blueline market moved on Friday whether they wanted it to or not. Sakic got the deal before camp. Makar got to say the sweater still fits. The strip is the signing, the $20.4 million scoreboard, the bar moving, and a decade in burgundy.

Source: NHL.com