2026-27<\/p>\n
Upper Limit: $104MM Expiring Contracts (RFA): F Fabian Lysell<\/a> ($850K)<\/p>\n Lysell warrants a quick mention here since he\u2019s waiver-eligible.\u00a0 If Colorado doesn\u2019t want to risk waiving him, he could stick around in a limited role.\u00a0 Even if he does, it\u2019s hard to forecast any sort of sizable increase.<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (UFA): D Brent Burns<\/a>\u00a0($850K base salary plus $2.15MM in bonuses), F Artturi Lehkonen<\/a> ($4.5MM), D Cale Makar<\/a> ($9MM), F Nicolas Roy<\/a> ($3MM), G Scott Wedgewood<\/a> ($2.5MM)<\/p>\n There are few players where the term \u2018blank check\u2019 could come into play.\u00a0 Makar may very well be one of them.\u00a0 With the escalating salaries, some have suggested a $20MM AAV could be doable.\u00a0 Makar may want to take less to give the Avs some extra flexibility but even if so, he could double his current price tag.\u00a0 If Burns decides to go for a 24th NHL season, his contract should be structured similar to this one, allowing Colorado to punt some of the cost into the following year.<\/p>\n Lehkonen has found another gear since being acquired from Montreal, becoming more of a core player.\u00a0 But he still has only passed 50 points once despite his two-way utility.\u00a0 In the current climate, his price tag could push past $8MM per season on a long-term deal although affording that could be a challenge with Makar\u2019s next contract.\u00a0 Roy\u2019s production has ticked down the last couple of years, putting him into a bit of a lesser role.\u00a0 Even so, with third-line centers clearing $4MM per season, he should have a chance to do that as well on a multi-year contract.<\/p>\n Wedgewood signed an early extension last season.\u00a0 It was understandable given that it set a new career high for salary but with how the rest of the year went, he left a lot of money on the table.\u00a0 An early extension now could double that price tag while a repeat showing this season could push the price tag more toward the $7MM range.<\/p>\n 2027-28<\/p>\n Projected Upper Limit: $113.5MM Nearly $33MM in cap space looks great in theory but Makar, Lehkonen, and Wedgewood could cost that much combined, let alone filling out the rest of their roster.\u00a0 If they all re-up, whoever is GM at the time (Joe Sakic isn\u2019t expected to be doing double-duty for too long) will have some cost-cutting to do again next summer.<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (RFA): F Zachary L\u2019Heureux<\/a> ($875K), F Fedor Svechkov<\/a> ($1.25MM)<\/p>\n Both players came over in a trade from Nashville this offseason and haven\u2019t quite lived up to their first-round billing yet.\u00a0 They\u2019re likely to be bottom-six regulars this season which likely won\u2019t give them the offensive stats needed for huge raises.\u00a0 Speculatively, both could double their price tags with a decent year.<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (UFA): D Noah Juulsen<\/a> ($1.1MM), D Josh Manson<\/a> ($3.9MM), F Brock Nelson<\/a> ($7.5MM)<\/p>\n Nelson is the big ticket from this group.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be 36 when this contract expires but on the other hand, demand for centers has never been higher.\u00a0 It\u2019s not implausible to think he could get a small raise from this price tag on his next deal.<\/p>\n When healthy, Manson is a solid fourth defenseman but staying healthy has been a challenge over the years and he\u2019ll turn 37 early in the 2027-28 season when his next deal will begin.\u00a0 A small raise could still be doable but he could also be a candidate for a bonus-laden one-year contract like Burns to give the Avs more flexibility.\u00a0 Juulsen just signed this deal in free agency and is more of a seventh option than a regular.\u00a0 That will keep the price tag around this range moving forward.<\/p>\n 2028-29<\/p>\n Forecasted Upper Limit: $123MM Again, the cap room will go down significantly when Makar, Lehkonen, and Wedgewood get re-signed while retaining Nelson would take another big chunk out of it.\u00a0 Svechkov and L\u2019Heureux will cut into that as well but shouldn\u2019t drastically affect what they\u2019ll have left to fill out the rest of their roster.<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (RFA): None<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Nazem Kadri<\/a> ($5.6MM*), F Gabriel Landeskog<\/a> ($7MM), F Jaden Schwartz<\/a> ($3.25MM)<\/p>\n *-Calgary is retaining an additional $1.4MM per season on Kadri\u2019s deal<\/p>\n Landeskog returned for his first regular season action since 2021-22 last season and fared relatively well in minutes that were managed pretty carefully.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be 36 when this agreement ends and given the injury trouble he has had, it\u2019s hard to see him landing more than this on his next contract.\u00a0 Kadri is a year older than Nelson with offensive numbers that haven\u2019t been quite as strong but again, the expected high demand could see him land a small raise on a short-term deal unless his performance bottoms out.\u00a0 Schwartz can be a second-line player when healthy but staying healthy has been a big challenge; that was certainly a factor in the contract he signed last month.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be 37 when his next deal begins and given his injury history, he could be going year-to-year with incentives after that.<\/p>\n 2029-30<\/p>\n Forecasted Upper Limit: $133.5MM (8.5% increase) It\u2019s safe to say that at least half of their current cap space will be eaten up by prior UFA classes while re-signing any of their 2029 UFA class will chip it down even more.\u00a0 But this is where things start to open up a bit more flexibility-wise.<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (RFA): None<\/p>\n Expiring Contracts (UFA): G Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> ($5.25MM), F Parker Kelly<\/a> ($1.7MM), D Sam Malinski<\/a> ($4.75MM)<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s coming off a season that makes this price tag look like a huge bargain but he\u2019s typically closer to 20 points instead of 20 goals.\u00a0 If he goes back to his usual production, it\u2019s possible that he could double this price tag given some of the deals given to similar energy players this summer.<\/p>\n Malinski had a breakout year last season to earn him this deal, one that will come with higher expectations.\u00a0 They\u2019re paying him to be more of a number four so if he can stay around the 30-point range and push closer to 20 minutes per night, that could set him up for a couple million more next time out.<\/p>\n Outside of his first few months with Colorado last season, Blackwood hasn\u2019t been a true starter in recent years but more like a platoon goalie.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible that the price point for a strong platoon goalie is in this range in 2030 but unless he really establishes himself as a starter, it\u2019s hard to forecast a big raise.<\/p>\n Signed For 2030-31 And Beyond<\/p>\n For that season, there will be a new CBA in place so trying to forecast the cap and cap space basically becomes a guessing game.\u00a0 Accordingly, we\u2019ll go back to the old Deep Dive format for players signed beyond the 2030-31 campaign.<\/p>\n D Brett Kulak<\/a> ($4.75MM through 2030-31)
Current Cap Charge: $103,570,841
Cap Space: $429,159
Potential Bonuses: $2.15MM ($1.15MM very likely to be reached; the rest is ATOI dependent for Brent Burns<\/a>)
Dead Cap: $2,291,841 (carryover bonus charge)<\/p>\n
Current Cap Charge: $80.579MM (16 players signed)
Cap Space: $32.921MM
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: None yet but likely to be a carryover penalty from 2026-27<\/p>\n
Current Cap Charge: $65.904MM (11 players signed)
Cap Space: $57.096MM
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: None<\/p>\n
Current Cap Charge: $50.054MM (8 players signed)
Cap Space: $83.446MM
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: None<\/p>\n
F Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> ($12.604MM through 2030-31)
F Martin Necas<\/a> ($11.5MM through 2033-34)
F Logan O\u2019Connor<\/a> ($2.5MM through 2030-31)
D Devon Toews<\/a> ($7.25MM through 2030-31)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nathan-mackinnon-colorado-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>MacKinnon once set the NHL record for being the highest-paid player with this contract (one that subsequently received a $4K boost thanks to minimum salary increases) although it didn\u2019t stand as the top deal for long.\u00a0 In the current landscape, it\u2019s still a significant bargain given that he is routinely one of the top scorers in the NHL.\u00a0 There\u2019s a temptation to say he could reclaim the top-paid crown but he\u2019ll be 36 when the first season on his next contract begins.\u00a0 Accordingly, it\u2019s hard to think Colorado (or another suitor) would go that high for someone whose production should be starting to drop by then.\u00a0 Even so, another multi-million-dollar raise seems likely.<\/p>\n