The Avalanche have re-signed forward Nathan MacKinnon to a seven year contract, the team announced. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the deal carries a cap hit of $6.3MM for a total of $44.1MM. The deal buys out his remaining four restricted free agent seasons as well as three UFA years and also makes him the highest paid player on the team.
Last season, MacKinnon played in 72 games with Colorado, scoring 21 goals add 31 assists while averaging a career high 18:52 per game, second most among Avalanche forwards behind only Gabriel Landeskog (18:56).
For his career, MacKinnon has played in 218 games in his three years since being selected first overall by the Avs in 2013, scoring 59 goals while adding 94 assists. His best season came in his rookie campaign where he collected 63 points in 82 games en route to receiving the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie.
Colorado now has their core group of forwards under contract for the next several years. Landeskog has five years left on his deal with a cap hit just over $5.5M while Matt Duchene has three years left on his deal at $6MM per year.
The Avalanche now have just two remaining restricted free agents to re-sign, left wing/center Mikhail Grigorenko and defenseman Tyson Barrie. They have a little over $8.3MM to spend to get those two signed, according to Cap Friendly.
The breakdown of the deal is as follows, per General Fanager:
2016-17: $5MM
2017-18: $5.75MM
2018-19: $6.75MM
2019-20: $6.75MM
2020-21: $6.15MM
2021-22: $6.85MM
2022-23: $6.85MM
MacKinnon will also be able to block a trade to ten teams beginning in 2020.
That’s a unreal contract! Considering what edm spent locking up their big three a couple of years ago.