What was all that talk about taking a discount?!
According to a report from Colorado Avalanche insider Adrian Dater, the team could be at risk of losing superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon when his contract ends next offseason.
Dater reports that MacKinnon is "seeking to be the NHL's highest paid player" when negotiating his next contract.
From Dater's latest report for Colorado Hockey Now:
NHL sources tell Colorado Hockey Now that the MacKinnon camp is expecting the star center to become the highest-paid player in the league on his next contract, which is currently under negotiation.
- Adrian Dater
MacKinnon, for what it's worth, has been massively underpaid for the past few seasons but is by no means hurting for cash. His seven year deal worth $6.3 million per season was a fair deal when it was signed back in 2016, but MacKinnon has far surpassed that value in the past few seasons.
If indeed Dater's report is correct, MacKinnon could bring in as much as $15 million per season on a long-term deal. If I'm an Avs fan that idea is making me very, very, veeeeerrry nervous. The Avs already have Mikko Rantanen ($9.25 million), Cale Makar ($9 million) and Gabriel Landeskog ($7 million) all under contract for big dollars and big term already. Now, I'll say... if you're going to commit big money and big term to four players, you could do a lot worse than Rantanen, Makar, Landeskog and MacKinnon. Still, every dollar counts in the NHL's salary cap world and GM Joe Sakic would be wise to squeeze every penny that he can. I mean, we already see the team having to say goodbye to Stanley Cup contributors like Nazem Kadri and Darcy Kuemper due to cap issues, so just imagine what things will look like when MacKinnon's salary is more than doubled.
Currently, the NHL's highest paid player is Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid who rakes in $12 million per season. McDavid signed his deal back in 2017 and no player has surpassed him in the five years since, but don't be surprised if Auston Matthews breaks the back in the 2024 offseason when he hits free agency age. If indeed MacKinnon becomes the highest paid player in the NHL next offseason, I suspect Matthews will surpass him the following offseason.
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