The writing was on the wall with where the new salary cap market was heading and the Colorado Avalanche decided to finally lock up their top line star Martin Nečas to an eight-year extension.
The contract doesn’t come cheap after an offseason of the bar continually getting raised with new contract extensions on the projected $104 million NHL salary cap for the 2026-27 season. Nečas cashes in for a total of $92 million over the next eight years for an Average Annual Value of $11.5 million starting next season. There’s also reports of the front-loaded contract containing $60 million in signing bonuses.
Nečas enjoying a hot start to the season with 13 points and seven goals in 11 games no doubt played a part in the urgency of the situation. Plus rumors that Adrian Kempe of the LA Kings was looking to sign an $11M AAV or more extension, which would have pushed up the Nečas comparables.
After the Mikko Rantanen saga the Avalanche had to make a decision to commit to top tier talent especially knowing where the market is heading. Perhaps this could have been done cheaper had they tackled it over the summer but this is a market value deal and Colorado recognized what it would take to retain a top line player. Now that it’s done the front office can focus their full attention on the looming Cale Makar extension next summer.
