When the Colorado Avalanche signed Cale Makar to his record-setting deal earlier this season, plenty of pundits and talking heads spelled doom for the organization.
$20 million for the NHL’s best defenseman seems about right. But the potential salary cap implications could have been too much for the Avalanche to deal with.
Well, Thursday’s news of a potential increase to $150 million for the 2029-30 could make Makar’s cap hit look like a drop in the bucket.
Insider Frank Seravalli reported on Thursday that the NHL could be moving to the mind-shocking rise in the cap, potentially raising a tidal wave among player salaries.
As it stands, Makar’s cap hit will represent 17.9% of the Avs’ cap allocation next season. If the cap ceiling does indeed rise to $150 million, that would mean 13.6% of the team’s cap.
Yes, more than 10% of a team’s cap allocation is still a significant number for one player. But the bottom line is that by the time the NHL cap ceiling hits $150 million, there will be more players in the $20 million club.
That’s why Makar’s cap hit won’t look nearly as onerous in three seasons than next season.
Could MacKinnon join Makar in the $20 million club?
It might seem like it’s way too soon to talk about Nathan MacKInnon’s next contract. His current deal won’t be up until 2031. And he’ll be eligible to sign an extension in the summer of 2030, right when the cap ceiling is believed to be in the $150 million range.
So, would it be ludicrous to imagine that MacKinnon could join Makar in the $20 million club?
Well, unlike Makar, MacKinnon will be 35 when his deal expires. Naturally, there might be an inclination to think twice about paying him that much as he enters the final years of his career.
But then again, MacKinnon doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. Like his Cole Harbour counterpart, Sidney Crosby, MacKinnon could well play into his late 30s without showing any visible sign of decline.
Maybe it’s something in the water in Cole Harbour. Regardless, it wouldn’t be out of the question to imagine the Avalanche signing MacKinnon to one last multi-year deal with a $20 million price tag attached to it.
Writing this in 2026, such a deal would seem outrageous. But in three years, $20 million would seem like a bargain for a top-six forward who could put up 100 points in a season.
The good news is that, if things get to the point where MacKinnon costs the Avs $20 million per season in 2031, Colorado will have the cap space to make things work.
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