There was never really any doubt regarding the Cale Makar contract extension. If Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic seemed nonchalant about the situation, it was because he knew he didn’t really have much of a choice.
Now, his comments just confirmed what everyone already knew: The Avalanche were going to pay Makar whatever he wanted.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Sakic made it clear that he didn’t really have a choice when it came to negotiating with Makar’s camp. Daily Faceoff quoted Sakic’s comments, underlining how it was pretty much up to the superstar defenseman to dictate his term.
“Talking to his agent, Brian Bartlett, we had great communication throughout,” Sakic said. “It wasn’t even really a negotiation, to be honest with you. We just knew what was going to happen. Cale’s that player who has the right and should have the right to dictate where he wants to play for his entire career. So there wasn’t even a thought on that.”
Of course it wasn’t a negotiation. After all, what were Sakic’s alternatives? He could have played hardball. But what could he have achieved with it? Perhaps he might have talked Makar into taking a lower cap hit on a shorter-term deal.
And what would that have accomplished? Save a few bucks over the next couple of seasons?
If anything, Sakic talked Makar’s camp into taking the full eight-year deal. With that being the objective, the only real recourse for Sakic and the Avalanche was to pay Makar whatever he wanted.
The Avalanche didn’t have any real alternatives
Let’s suppose for a minute that Sakic wanted to really draw a line in the sand. Whatever that line would have been, it could have turned off Makar’s camp to the point where talks would have broken down. At that point, the situation might have come down to a trade in order to recoup something.
Okay, so where was Sakic going to find another Cale Makar? Short of cloning him, there is no one out there who could take his place.
Even if Sakic played hardball and eventually caved, who knows what sort of sour taste that might have left in Makar’s mouth when everything settled.
In fact, seeing Sakic cave in after the season would have rightfully enraged fans. Sakic could have gotten the deal done during the offseason, which he did, instead of letting the situation linger throughout the season.
In the end, Joe Sakic did the right thing. While you could argue that the Avs GM did do much negotiating, it’s just one of those things where you pay up or risk messing up a good thing.
History will remember Sakic as one of the savviest NHL executives of all time, even if it doesn’t look like it right now.
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