Chris Pronger has played alongside some of the greatest defensemen in NHL history.
He knows what an elite blueliner looks like.
So when a Hockey Hall of Famer looks at Cale Makar’s record-breaking contract and sees little reason for concern, it is worth listening.
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Makar’s eight-year, $163.2 million extension with the Colorado Avalanche makes him the first player in NHL history to carry an average annual value above $20 million. The number is staggering, and the commitment will shape Colorado’s roster for years to come.
But Pronger does not see the deal as a reckless gamble.
He sees a superstar getting paid like a superstar.
“I think it is a win-win for the player and the team,” Pronger said while breaking down Makar’s contract.
And perhaps more importantly for Colorado, he believes the Avalanche have secured the one player around whom their future should be built.
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Makar’s extension does not officially begin until the 2027-28 season, with one year remaining on his current deal. But the agreement effectively gives Colorado long-term certainty surrounding the most important defenseman in franchise history.
Since entering the NHL, Makar has established himself as one of the league’s premier defensemen. He is a two-time Norris Trophy winner and, in 2022, became the first defenseman in Avalanche history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy after helping Colorado capture the Stanley Cup.
Makar has also been a Norris finalist in six of his first seven full NHL seasons, joining Bobby Orr as the only defensemen in league history to accomplish that feat.
That résumé is what separates Makar’s contract from the typical conversation surrounding massive long-term deals.
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There is always risk when a team commits hundreds of millions of dollars to one player. Injuries and declining production can eventually turn a franchise-altering investment into a franchise-altering problem.
But Pronger does not believe Makar’s injury history provides much reason for concern.
“There’s not a lot of cons other than the potential issue if there was an injury,” Pronger said.
Makar did deal with an upper-body injury late last season that kept him out of the first two games of Colorado’s Western Conference Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The timing could hardly have been worse.
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Makar returned for Game 3, but the Avalanche ultimately saw their season end as Vegas swept Colorado.
Still, those injuries clearly did not change how the Avalanche viewed their franchise defenseman.
Makar has been remarkably durable throughout his Colorado tenure, and Pronger believes his track record gives the Avalanche reason to feel comfortable with the commitment.
“I don’t see a drop in his production to the end of this contract, for sure,” Pronger said.
That confidence is rooted in what Makar has already accomplished.
He became the fourth-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 500 points, doing so in just 467 games. Only Orr, Paul Coffey and Denis Potvin reached the milestone faster.
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Makar also finished the 2025-26 season with 79 points in 75 games and became the first defenseman since Phil Housley and Al MacInnis in 1992 to record three consecutive 20-goal seasons.
The Avalanche are not paying Makar based solely on what he might become.
They are paying him for what he has already proven to be.
“That’s the thing about this particular player,” Pronger said. “He’s proven to be this player.”
And for Colorado, the biggest advantage of the extension may not even be Makar’s production.
It is knowing he will be there.
The Avalanche can now plan around Makar without worrying about his next contract, his price as the salary cap rises or whether another team could eventually pry him away.
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“They can begin to plan for the future,” Pronger said.
That becomes particularly important when considering the structure of Makar’s contract.
While the $20.4 million cap hit is eye-popping, much of the money is structured as signing bonuses. Beginning in 2027-28, Makar is scheduled to receive a $4 million base salary and a $16.8 million signing bonus, with similar bonus-heavy structures throughout the extension.
In total, the eight-year extension adds up to $163.2 million.
For Makar, the structure offers an obvious financial benefit. Signing bonuses are generally not subject to a buyout in the same way as base salary.
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Pronger admitted the bonus-heavy structure surprised him.
“I was shocked that it’s heavily signing-bonus latent,” he said, suggesting Makar and his agency, Bartlett Hockey, likely placed significant value on receiving so much of the money in bonuses.
But the bigger question for Colorado is whether the record-breaking cap hit will become a problem as the contract progresses.
Pronger does not believe it will.
A $20.4 million cap hit is enormous under today’s salary-cap numbers. But if the league’s cap continues to rise, Makar’s deal should consume a smaller percentage of Colorado’s payroll over time.
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Pronger believes that by the middle of the contract, years four, five and six, the deal could look considerably more manageable.
That is where Colorado’s roster construction becomes critical.
The Avalanche already have several core pieces committed long term, including Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. With Makar secured through 2034-35, Colorado knows exactly who its roster will be built around.
Now comes the difficult part: finding enough talent to complement those stars without breaking the bank.
That responsibility falls squarely on Joe Sakic and Colorado’s management team.
“They have to continue to find players to add, whether it be through college free agency, junior, et cetera, to supplement their roster,” Pronger said.
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In other words, Makar’s contract does not eliminate the challenge facing Colorado.
It defines it.
The Avalanche have decided that Makar is worth building around. Now they have to find creative ways to build the rest of the roster around him.
Pronger understands that better than most.
He won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and captured Olympic gold with Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. More importantly, he knows how rare it is for a franchise to have a defenseman capable of fundamentally changing the way a team plays.
Makar is already entering that territory, which is why the price may ultimately matter less than the decision itself. Colorado has made the calculation that some players are simply too important to let go, even when paying them requires difficult decisions elsewhere on the roster.
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That philosophy carries a little more weight in Colorado after what happened with Mikko Rantanen.
Colorado forward Nazem Kadri, who was playing for the Calgary Flames at the time, made his feelings clear after the Avalanche traded Rantanen in 2025, writing on social media: “Rule number one: You always keep the dawgs … #96.”
Colorado could not keep Rantanen.
It has made sure it is keeping Makar.
“I think it is a win-win for the player and the team,” Pronger said.
For the Avalanche, the price is unprecedented.
So is the player.
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