The Colorado Avalanche got a glowing review from The Athletic in its 32-team review of salary cap management. The piece published on August 6 looked at all 32 teams and how they handle their cap allocations.
The piece placed the Colorado Avalanche in the third spot, behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, with a stellar A+ grade.
The grade is spurred by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar’s contracts. MacKinnon, as we’ve noted earlier, is among the best deals in the NHL. Meanwhile, Cale Makar’s contract is considered a steal at this point. Of course, Makar will have a shot to renegotiate his cap hit in his next deal. But that’s a story for another day.
The article noted that the Avalanche don’t really have any “problem contracts.” Here’s the lowdown:
"With Miles Wood out of the picture, the Avalanche no longer have any big problem contracts. Sure, the Brock Nelson and Josh Manson deals were slight overpays, but they were manageable ones on an otherwise great cap sheet."
I have to agree with the point on Nelson. The Avs re-signed him in a significant overpay this summer. The overpay was magnified by the deals Matt Duchene signed with the Dallas Stars and John Tavares with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Moreover, I have to politely disagree with Manson’s assessment. He’s still a serviceable top-four blue liner. Sure, he’s getting a little but up there in age. But the Avalanche would be hard-pressed to find a replacement for him at the same price point.
Overall, the Avalanche have knocked it out of the park. Virtually every contract on the team has a positive surplus value. MacKinnon and Makar have a combined $46.9 million surplus value. Throw MacKenzie Blackwood into the mix, and that value rises to $65.1 million.
That’s a mind-shocking value that few teams could come close to matching.
Colorado Avalanche don't have any “bad” contracts
Based on The Athletic’s assessment, the Colorado Avalanche don’t really have any contracts we could call “bad.”
The worst contracts on the roster are Jack Drury, Brock Nelson, and Scott Wedgewood. Drury’s contract gets a C+. That’s not bad, especially when it shows a negative surplus value of $100K. Sure, $100K is a lot of money, but it’s a wash in pro sports. Wedgewood gets the same score.
Nelson’s contract gets a C as it reports a negative surplus value of $4.4 million. Now, that value must be taken with a grain of salt. If Nelson has a great year next season, that surplus value could quickly flip. Conversely, a bad season would plunge it even further.
But then again, it’s a calculated risk the Avalanche took when the team signed Nelson. If he crashes and burns, it won’t be the end of the world. But the potential upside is just too good to pass up at this point.
All told, GM Chris MacFarland deserves a round of applause. He’s built a solid team that looks poised to make a strong playoff run in 2025-26.