The Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen after not meeting his contract demands, and now, it's been revealed they're willing to do whatever it takes to keep Cale Makar, with the team aware they can't repeat the mistakes they seemingly made.
The Colorado Avalanche recently traded Mikko Rantanen in a blockbuster trade, and unsurprisingly, Elliotte Friedman revealed that the reason behind the trade was simple: they didn't want to pay Rantanen more than superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon is paid $12.6 million a season, and while the team were willing to offer him up to $11.75 million a year, it just wasn't enough and they felt it best to move on from him ahead of the trade deadline.
With Cale Makar set to be a free agent in the summer of 2027, there's questions of GM Chris MacFarland and how he'll handle that, but according to Friedman, they're willing to go over that $12.6 million number for the superstar defenseman.
The 26-year old was the No. 4 overall pick back in 2017, and has blossomed into arguably the best blue liner in the NHL, tallying an incredible 392 points in 366 career games including one Norris Trophy victory.
He'll be 28 when his contract is up, and while Colorado will pay almost anything to keep him, there are plenty of teams out there that would do anything it takes to land a superstar such as Makar, so they won't be alone in wanting to pay him record money for his services.
There's still plenty of time between now and Makar's free agency, with another Stanley Cup or two running his number up even more, or perhaps, a falloff could make him much cheaper, but if he continues on this trajectory, he'll likely be the highest paid player in Colorado Avalanche history.
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