Cale Makar and Jared Bednar are now staring at Colorado's biggest contract file, and the number around it could reset the blue-line market.
The new angle is the one shaking the whole league. Pierre LeBrun's reported read is that Makar's camp is using Kirill Kaprizov's $17 million AAV as the line in the sand.
That matters because this is not a forward chasing winger money. This is the best defenseman on the planet asking to be paid like one, with no discount tied to position.
And Makar has the résumé to push it. He finished 2025-26 with 20 goals and 59 assists for 79 points in 75 games, while adding a plus-32 rating.
That is not only elite defense scoring. That is top-of-the-league impact from the blue line, again. NHL.com notes he was a Norris finalist for the sixth straight year.
The contract timing is what makes this live right now. Makar is entering the final season of the 6-year, $54 million deal he signed in 2021, which carries a $9 million cap hit through 2026-27.
Colorado also is not dealing with some fading star. Makar reached 500 career points in 2025-26 and still sits right in the middle of his prime years.
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Cale Makar's next contract could shatter the NHL market
Kaprizov's extension changed the tone for every elite negotiation. Minnesota signed him to 8 years and $136 million, which landed at $17 million per season.
Once that number hit the board, Makar's side gained a clean argument. If a franchise winger can sit at that level, why should a franchise defenseman with Makar's résumé come in under it? That is the pressure Colorado now has to handle.
The Avalanche do have one advantage. Makar is already in place, Bednar is still behind the bench, and Colorado remains a team built to win now, not a club trying to sell hope.
Still, this is the kind of deal that changes everything around it. A $17 million defenseman would not only set a record at the position. It would push the next wave of elite blue-liners into a different pay tier too.
That is why this story hits so hard. Cale Makar is not just negotiating his next contract. He is testing whether the NHL is ready to price a defenseman exactly like a franchise forward.
And if Colorado gives him that number, the rest of the league is going to feel it right away.
Source : Cale Makar contract situation takes shocking turn!
Should the Avalanche pay Cale Makar at least $17 million per year?
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