Nathan MacKinnon Looking To Secure The Bag On His Next Deal
Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has been a top 5 player in the league for sometime now. He's hoping to get paid like one on his next deal.
Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman confirms early reports that MacKinnon could become the NHL's highest paid player.
The current highest-paid NHLer is Connor MacDavid at $12.5 million. If he's looking to be the highest paid player, MacKinnon's agents are asking for at least $13 million or more.
Currently, the Colorado Avalanche stand at $78.59 million. While it's true MacKinnon's new contract won't take effect until the 2023-24 season, Colorado still have to contend with the likelihood that the cap won't go up much more than $1 million.
The Avs will have defenceman Erik Johnson's $6 million cap hit coming off the books after this season. Besides MacKinnon, only two other players Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook are expected to command a large raise.
A young MacKinnon at the tender age of 20 didn't take the traditional bridge contract that many good, young players go for. MacKinnon chose instead to sign a seven year contract. He also openly offered a hometown discount. He's been making $6.3 million a year. Sure, maybe when he was 20, 21 and still proving himself that was ok. However, he's been the team star for at least five of those years. And that's a heck of a team-friendly contract.
The Avs have had MacKinnon on a discount, It's now time to open up the wallet.
| POLL | ||
What will Nathan MacKinnon's next contract look like? | ||
| 8 years x $14 million | 33 | 23.9 % |
| 8 years x $13 million | 40 | 29 % |
| 8 years x $12.5 million | 32 | 23.2 % |
| 8 years x $12 million | 33 | 23.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
