Joe Sakic scored again Sunday night, this time off a Hejduk feed in an alumni game that meant nothing on the standings and everything about the franchise’s memory. Then he walked off the ice and went right back to the only transaction that actually matters in Denver: keeping Cale Makar in an Avalanche sweater for the rest of his prime.
“I’m pretty confident that he’ll be signed before the season starts,” Sakic said. I take him at his word. The dialogue is real, the cap space is real, and the player is the best defenseman of his generation still operating at full tilt.
Makar just finished a 75-game season with 20 goals, 59 assists, 79 points and a plus-32. Career line through that campaign: 470 games, 136 goals, 371 assists, 507 points, plus-168. That works out to roughly 1.07 points per game, third all-time among NHL defensemen behind only Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey. Two Norris Trophies already. A Conn Smythe and a Stanley Cup in 2022. He is 27 years old and entering the final season of the six-year, $54 million deal he signed in 2021 at a $9 million cap hit. The next contract will reset the market for elite blueliners, and everyone in the league knows it.
Byram Moved the Floor. Makar Owns the Ceiling.
Bowen Byram’s six-year, $75 million extension in Chicago ($12.5 million AAV) made him the highest-paid defenseman on paper the moment it landed. Sakic’s response when asked about the market ripple was pure deadpan: “Really? I haven’t noticed that.” Then the substance: “I’m not worried about it. I don’t think Cale’s worried about it. Dialog’s been great and when there’s an agreement, we’ll gladly announce it. Hopefully something will be done before the start of training camp.”
That is the correct posture. Byram is a very good player who needed a new home. Makar is the player you build the blue line around for a decade. Colorado already created flexibility by shipping Valeri Nichushkin and his remaining $6.125 million annual hit to Columbus. The salary cap sits at $104 million for 2026-27 and is projected near $113.5 million the following year. The Avalanche have the runway. They also have the September 15 deadline if both sides want the full eight-year term before the new CBA rules drop the maximum to seven. Sakic has already said he is comfortable either way.
I do not see leverage games here. Makar has never played the free-agent card in public. Sakic has already stated, back in June, that Makar will finish his career in Colorado. Those two positions only collide if someone gets greedy on term or structure. Nothing in the reported dialogue suggests that is happening.
The Quiet Parallel With Bednar Matters Too
Sakic offered the same calm tone on Jared Bednar, who is also heading into the final year of his deal. “Everything’s great. Not worried about that,” he said. “There’s been coaches, there’s been players that have gone into their last year of their deals before, and there’s going to be in the future, so not really concerned about it.” That is not spin. It is pattern recognition from a front office that has already won a Cup under this coach and just posted the best regular-season record in hockey before the Vegas sweep.
Peter Forsberg, skating on bad feet and still smiling about it, put the larger point simply: “Just feels like everything Joe touches, it goes well. I’m really happy to see him back.” Sakic is GM again after Chris MacFarland’s exit to Nashville. The alumni weekend was nostalgia. The Makar file is the real work of September.
Training camp opens around the 16th. The eight-year window closes the day before. I expect the announcement lands inside that window, or immediately after if both sides prefer seven years and a cleaner AAV. Either way, the player who just put up 79 points from the back end stays in burgundy. The numbers already say he belongs there for another decade. Sakic’s confidence is just the front office catching up to the obvious.
