$37 million for two players: the looming reality for the Minnesota Wild

Mathis Therrien
$37 million for two players: the looming reality for the Minnesota Wild
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

Cale Makar broke the bank yesterday with his new eight-year contract, which will begin next season and is worth $20.4 million annually—the highest amount in National Hockey League history.

This record-breaking contract was awarded by the Colorado Avalanche.

This demonstrates just how much the rise in the salary cap has clearly increased the value of players—and thus the value of contracts—as we've seen this summer.

Obviously, with this signing—even though Makar is considered by many to be the best defenseman in the entire NHL—defensemen who will soon be signing new contracts can't help but be salivating.

They know they have plenty of room to negotiate, and it's clear that players' agents won't back down either in their quest to secure the best possible deal.

The one who must be most excited is, of course, Quinn Hughes, the Minnesota Wild defenseman, whose contract is set to expire after the 2027–2028 season.

The Wild will obviously want to keep him on the team, so they'll most likely have to offer Hughes around $20 million a year, considering he's pretty much on the same level as Makar.

Well, in that case, the Wild will end up with two players who together cost around $37 million a year.

You read that right: $37 million of a team's available $104 million payroll could go to just two players, leaving $67 million for the other 21 players.

That would leave an average of $3.19 million for each of the other 21 players.

It's absolutely crazy how the contracts of Kirill Kaprizov ($17 million over eight years) and Quinn Hughes (most likely around $20 million) could prevent the Wild from making any major acquisitions or signings.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have their top five players (Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Hutson, and Demidov) signed long-term for just under $42 million per year—an unthinkable bargain given the kind of offseason the NHL just had.

Kent Hughes pulled off a major coup that will pay huge dividends for the Habs for many years to come.

Let's see which team—the Wild or the Canadiens—will be more successful over the next few seasons.


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