When Cale Makar Helps the Devils

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
When Cale Makar Helps the Devils
Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

At $20.4 million per year for eight years (2027–2035), Cale Makar broke the bank.

He saw Daniel Brière shake things up with his hostile offer and figured that if a player still several years away from full free agency was entitled to earn that much without having reached his full potential, he could surely earn even more.

And that's exactly what he's doing… by taking advantage of the fact that his GM (Joe Sakic) painted himself into a corner by guaranteeing that the defenseman would sign a long-term deal in Denver.

Basically, Makar pulled the oldest trick in the negotiation book: he took advantage of the circumstances.

Everyone who's signed a big contract in the past year (Leo Carlsson, Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Bowen Byram, Kirill Kaprizov, etc.) has been in the same boat.

And the next player who could take advantage of this is Quinn Hughes. As my colleague Mathis Therrien recently mentioned, the Wild defenseman saw what Makar signed and now has a baseline for his own negotiations.

He's also seen his management cave in to give Kirill Kaprizov what he wanted.

The more time passes, the more we wonder whether Hughes will end up signing with the Wild, though. After all, even though it's (absolutely) not too late to sign, the matter hasn't been settled yet.

And inevitably, that could potentially work in the Devils' favor, as James Nichols (THN) points out—even if the Wild still hold the upper hand.

We say this because the Wild might not be able to afford to pay nearly $37 million for two players on top of trying to land a top-line center.

Because if any team needs a center more than the others to maximize its window of opportunity, it's the Wild. #DylanLarkin

Bill Guerin might have to decide not to sign Hughes if the latter asks for too much, in order to improve his team's offense and depth instead.

And in that case, it could work in favor of the Devils, who have been the team most closely linked to Quinn Hughes for years, thanks to his brothers playing on the roster.

Maybe he'd accept a little less money to join his brothers? Who knows.

But one thing is certain: Makar's contract is forcing the Wild to make a decision. And inevitably, this certainly can't hurt the Devils' chances—who will have some wiggle room in their payroll next year—of signing him someday.


In Brief

– Read this.

– This topic isn't done sparking conversation yet.

– Stay tuned.

– He's 35 years old.

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