The Colorado Avalanche got a major piece of business done on Thursday, announcing the extension of star winger Martin Necas. The eight-year, $92 million contract ends a highly uncomfortable period that could have ended with a public relations nightmare for the Avs.
Think about it.
Necas and the Avalanche were like a marriage on the rocks. They were headed toward splitsville, but friends, family, and everyone else around them tried their best to keep them together.
In the end, they realized that they were never going to be happy apart. The realization was that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. So, why split up a good thing?
We can utilize all the cliches and euphemisms to describe what transpired on Thursday. But the reality is that the outcome was for the best. If the separation had actually happened, the optics would have been straight out of a Stephen King novel.
The Avalanche would have looked like fools by trading away Mikko Rantanen and then trading away Necas. The could would have had a gaping hole in their top six, and then scrambled to fill it.
Instead, Colorado Avalanche got the deal done and a favorable one at that.
Necas signs with Colorado Avalanche for slightly under market value
It may seem surprising to claim that the Colorado Avalanche signed Martin Necas for slightly under market value. But the fact is that the Necas could have gotten more in the open market. A team like the New York Rangers might have made a bold move to land the 26-year-old.
Perhaps other clubs may have been willing to at least match what Colorado agreed to pay Necas. Heck, there might have been another team desperate enough, like the Toronto Maple Leafs, to blow everyone else out of the water.
But that didn’t happen. Necas’ $11.5 million AAV doesn’t look that good now. But it will be a team-friendly deal in a couple of seasons. Once the salary cap ceiling hits through the roof, the Avalanche will make away like gangbusters with this deal.
Meanwhile, Necas gets paid even if he left some money on the table. It makes sense for him. He’s not going to find a better contender than the Avalanche. There’s no other team that could have paid him and still have the supporting cast to win a Stanley Cup.
If the Avalanche host the Cup this season, GM Chris MacFarland will be lighting cigars with $100 bills. In the meantime, everyone can rest assured that the worst-case scenario was averted minutes before a critical, irreparable meltdown occurred.