Cale Makar Signs Record $163.2M Deal to Become NHL's First $20M Player
Cale Makar has signed an eight-year contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche worth $163.2 million, the largest deal in NHL history and the first to carry an average annual value above $20 million.
The agreement was announced on Friday and carries a cap hit of $20.4 million a year. It begins with the 2027-28 season and runs through 2034-35.
Breaking a Record Set a Month Ago
Makar's average annual value surpasses the $18.8 million that San Jose Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini secured on 29 July as part of a five-year, $94 million deal. The $20.4 million figure sits just below the $20.8 million maximum Makar was eligible to receive under the salary cap rules.
It is the fourth time in eleven months that the highest average annual value in the league has been reset, and the third time this summer. Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov set the previous benchmark in September 2025 with an eight-year, $136 million extension at $17 million a year. Anaheim then signed Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million deal worth $18 million annually in July after offer-sheet pressure, before Celebrini moved the number again weeks later.
Makar is the only defenceman among the four. His current contract, a six-year deal signed in 2021, carries a $9 million cap hit.
The structure of the new deal is heavily weighted towards signing bonuses. The first three years each pay a $4 million base salary alongside a $16.8 million signing bonus. The base rises to $12.8 million in year four before dropping again, with the final year at age 36 paying a $1 million base and an $18.8 million signing bonus. The contract includes a full no-move clause.
What Colorado Are Paying For
Makar, 27, has averaged a point per game across seven full NHL seasons. He recorded a career-high 30 goals and 92 points in 2024-25, and followed that with 20 goals and 79 points in 75 games last season despite injury disruption. It was the third consecutive year he reached 20 goals.
He has won the Norris Trophy twice as the league's best defenceman, the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2019-20, and a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022. He turns 28 on 30 October.
The Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy last season with a franchise-record 121 points before being swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.
The Cost Elsewhere
Makar becomes the third Avalanche player on an eight-figure cap hit, alongside Nathan MacKinnon at $12.6 million and Martin Nečas at $11.5 million. All three hold full no-move clauses.
Committing that share of the cap to one player creates obvious constraints. Colorado will face decisions on retaining other core pieces and filling out depth while carrying three of the league's larger contracts.
General manager and president of hockey operations Joe Sakic described Makar as a generational defenceman and said the club was pleased to have secured him for the next decade. Makar said his intention had always been to remain with the Avalanche and that the deal was a step towards spending his career in Colorado.
The contract is expected to influence negotiations for other leading defencemen, with Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski among those whose next deals will now be measured against it.
