Good news is right around the corner for the Colorado Avalanche, it appears, and it relates to the team’s star center. The Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon are reportedly getting awfully close to an extension.
Nathan MacKinnon, speaking at the NHL Player Media Tour, says his extension with the Avalanche is “pretty close” and he’s hoping it’ll get done “soon.” As for AAV, it will be “fair” but “not going to be a single digit.”
— John Matisz (@MatiszJohn) September 15, 2022
There has never really been a worry that the two sides would be able to come up with some sort of agreement. The question has been about when it would happen. It would be incredible if it got done before the regular season got underway, and if I had to guess, that’s exactly what will happen.
There have been several guesses as to what the numbers would look like in the MacKinnon extension. I have seen as high as $14.5 million annually, which was predicted by Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow.com.
Our own Nadia Archuleta had her own guess here.
It is important to note that the new deal would not kick in until next year, as MacKinnon is currently on a deal with one year remaining. This won’t be a reworked deal, it will be an extension with added years.
Aside from MacKinnon, the pending unrestricted free agents for the Colorado Avalanche after the 2022-23 are J.T. Compher, newcomer Evan Rodrigues (who was just signed a couple of days ago), Andrew Cogliano, Darren Helm, Lukas Sedlak, Erik Johnson, and Andreas Englund.
With all due respect, the MacKinnon extension/contract takes priority over each of those players. Some of those players are nearing the end of their career, so it might be alright for the team if they choose to move on to lock up MacKinnon.
Earlier this offseason, the Avalanche decided to not make a push to sign goaltender Darcy Kuemper, so he left freely to the Washington Capitals. They were also unable to get something worked out with Nazem Kadri, letting him slip away to the Calgary Flames.
It’s all about balance when it comes to NHL contracts. Sometimes you will lose out on star players to keep some. The Colorado Avalanche are on the verge of keeping their best player around for years to come.