Today is the day of the first on-ice activity for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2026-27 season. A group of 25 rookies are gathering at Family Sports Center at 9:00 a.m. for a one-day practice before they head off to San Jose, Calif. for the annual rookie tournament.
Late last week the roster was announced which features almost as many defensemen (8) as forwards (13). The only two players with NHL experience expected to attend are forwards Nikita Prishchepov and Taylor Makar, though several others on this list could see their NHL debut soon. All eyes will be on goaltender Ilya Nabokov and forward TJ Hughes who might even make an impact on the Avalanche this year.
It's nice to see five of the nine members of the 2026 Avalanche draft class in attendance including including forwards Beckett Hamilton and Shawn Carrier, defenseman Ondrej Ruml and goaltenders Alexandre Raymond and Tobias Tvrznik,
Those prospects playing in the NCAA or Europe this season are not listed and were not expected to attend rookie camp or Avalanche training camp. However, it is curious the class headliner, 43rd overall Egor Shilov is missing especially since he has chosen to spend one more year in the QMJHL with Victoriaville. But, there is a clue from those who cover the Canadian junior leagues that ongoing visa issues are to blame.
Translated from Quebec journalist Matthew Vachon this reads:

#expected #attend

Moritz Seider has had an amazing start to his career while wearing the winged wheel for Detroit. He has captivated fans with his elite defensive play, and he has become more involved on the offensive side of the puck every year. He just recorded his best season yet in Detroit, posting career marks in goals, ***** ists, and plus/minus rating: 10 goals, 50 ***** ists, 60 points and a plus-15 rating in all 82 games. He hasn't even reached his full potential yet, and he is already one of the franchise's centerpieces.
During his time in Detroit, he has also learned how to quarterback our power play and be a shutdown force during penalty-killing situations. He put up a career-high 28 power-play points last season and led Red Wings defensemen with 180 blocked shots. He is also one of the defensemen Detroit turns to in overtime. Over the last five seasons in Detroit, he has averaged 23:51 of ice time, and last season's career-best 25:40 a night was the heaviest workload he has carried yet. Not to mention that he has never missed a game in the entirety of his NHL career so far, a streak that now sits at 410 straight.
Seider will look to continue his dominance on the blue line this season, which carries major significance as the Wings look to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16, after a 10th straight miss last spring. If Seider can maintain his superb career trajectory and the season he posted last year, Detroit's blue line and team will only get better. One statistic that really stands out is Seider's plus/minus rating. As Detroit's number one defenseman, Seider is regularly on the ice defending against the opposing team's top stars. Posting a plus-15 last season, his first positive rating in five NHL seasons, shows that he is one of the most valuable defensemen in today's NHL.
This is not hype or exaggeration of Seider's play; he is well respected by his peers and was just ranked as the ninth-best defenseman in the NHL right now by NHL Network, one spot behind Ottawa's Jake Sanderson, after finishing fifth in Norris Trophy voting. He is the Detroit blue line, and the extension that we had worked out to keep him here was, and still is, an absolute steal for the value of a player he is and will become in the future.
On Aug. 28, 2026, the Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Cale Makar to a record eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid player in NHL history at a $20.4 million AAV and the first $20 million man the league has ever had. With this happening, elite defenders are going to see a skyrocket in not only what they are worth but what they are going to be paid. Now, when we look at the extension Seider signed on Sept. 19, 2024, seven years and $59.85 million at an $8.55 million AAV, that was an absolute steal for the player who will control Detroit's blue line for years to come. Seider is under contract with Detroit through the 2030-31 season and will be a key piece of Detroit's plans now and i

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The **** le is still sinking in for Cale Makar — highest paid player in NHL history.
With it, of course, comes great expectations for the Colorado Avalanche standout defenseman. Like more gaudy stats and deep Stanley Cup runs. Pressure becomes part of the price tag for signing a $163.2 million, eight-year extension that kicks in next season. Pressure, the two-time Norris Trophy winner **** erted, he welcomes.
"I'm a guy that just puts a lot of pressure on myself to do well year in, year out," Makar said Monday at a news conference on the heels of a deal he signed late last week that will keep him with Colorado through the 2034-35 season. "It's going to make me even push myself a little bit more."
The 27-year-old Makar took becoming the league's first player to sign for more than $20 million a season in stride. He's already predicting the figure won't stand for long. It could be Edmonton's Connor McDavid or Toronto's Auston Matthews, who are eligible for extensions next summer. Down the road, it might be Makar's teammate Nathan MacKinnon.
"I fully expect Nate to even double what this is right now," cracked Makar, who's turned in four 20-goal seasons in his career. "It's incredible to see where the game is going."

#pressure #player #million

When Connor **** ebuyck's trade request went public, many drew a line to the New Jersey Devils in terms of a trade fit.
I understand the idea. New Jersey doesn't necessarily have a clear answer in goal for the 2026-27 season. However, does it exactly make sense? I broke it down, which includes an anecdotal on Quinn Hughes, in the links below.
Also below, a deep dive on Alexander Command, and why he's got the highest floor of any New Jersey prospect.
Elsewhere, Cale Makar just reset the defenseman market with a record extension in Colorado, and more **** ebuyck talk.
New Jersey Hockey Now: Connor **** ebuyck's public trade demand raises a real question for New Jersey — could the Devils actually make a run at the three-time Vezina winner given their cap situation, current goalies, and the Quinn Hughes problem still hovering?

#hughes

The NHL has its first $20 million man. Friday, the Avalanche announced an eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension with Cale Makar. The average annual value comes in at $20.4 million, handing the 27-year-old star defenseman the highest AAV in league history. It's just below the league maximum at $20.8M, and the total contract is the largest in NHL history.
Makar's landmark contract comes just a month after Sharks center Macklin Celebrini set a new high-water mark at $18.8 million AAV as part of a five-year, $94 million deal. Though bigger, Makar's deal similarly contains eye-popping signing bonuses: In the final year, at age 36, Makar will be guaranteed a whopping $18.8 million.
The highest NHL AAV has now been smashed four times throughout the past year—and three times this summer alone.
In September 2025, Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov signed a then-record $136 million, eight-year extension at $17 million AAV—resetting the market for the league's stars. In June, offer-sheet drama surrounding Leo Carlsson pushed the Ducks to sign the center to an $18 million AAV deal. But in July, Celebrini agreed to his deal, and Makar knocked him off less than a month later.
Makar is the only defenseman of the four. Along with setting a new high bar in the sport, his deal also ratchets up the market for the NHL's other top defensemen, whose new contracts are imminent: particularly Quinn Hughes, who was moved to Minnesota in a blockbuster trade last season; and Matthew Schaefer of the Islanders, who is coming off of a Calder Trophy–winning season during which he banked rookie records.

#contract #eight

Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche have agreed to a eight-year, $163.2 million extension, his agency announced Friday. The deal will be worth $20.4 million in annual average value; Makar becomes the first player in the NHL to sign a deal exceeding $20 million in annual salary, via insider Frank Seravalli.
Makar is entering the final year of a six-year, $54 million extension he signed in July 2021. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Getting a deal done now allows Makar and the Avalanche to ensure the contract is for eight years. Once the NHL's new CBA goes into effect on Sept. 15, maximum contract lengths cannot exceed seven years.
The Avalanche confirmed the deal with a video of Makar, in which he said he "couldn't be more excited" to stay in Colorado for the long-term future.
Makar, 27, is entering his eighth NHL season, all with Colorado. Since breaking into the league during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the UMass product has won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, been named to the NHL First All-Star Team four times, won two Norris Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman, and helped the Avalanche to the 2021-22 Stanley Cup ******* le, where he was also named postseason MVP.

#stanley

It was a day of anticipation on Thursday as new broke that the Colorado Avalanche and Cale Makar had reached an agreement on a contract extension. There was no announcement then but today is supposed to be the day it finally happens.
First it started with Elliotte Friedman dropping the bomb, which was confirmed by several other media sources that a big announcement on Makar's extension was forthcoming.
And then….silence. But considering there's still three weeks to go before the Avalanche get on the ice for training camp, what's another day?
Now we are announcing the announcement as what has become the norm in today's media.
While we wait, let's reflect on the historic career the world's best defenseman has enjoyed up to this point.

#thursday #elliotte

CENTENNIAL, CO - JUNE 11 : Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic is in the press conference at Family Sports Center in Centennial, Colorado on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
DENVER — Joe Sakic was back in the goal-scoring business in an alumni game that featured some of his Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche teammates.
Just a few shifts for old time's sake as the Hall of Fame forward turned front office executive was paired on a line with Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk. He scored early off a pass from Hejduk.
Now, it's back to the deal-making business for Sakic with training camp around the corner.
Sakic's trying to wrap up a contract extension that will keep Cale Makar, a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the league's top defenseman, in Denver well into the future. Makar is coming off a season in which he had 20 goals and 59 ******* ists.

#Avalanche #back

As summer slowly begins to slip away with hints of hockey's return on the horizon, the one part of the offseason which feels incomplete is the highly anticipated Cale Makar contract extension hasn't been announced by the Colorado Avalanche yet. With exactly one month until the team is collectively back on the ice again, the clock is beginning to tick louder. Hopefully, it's still all a just matter of procedure but there's more anxiety in the air than there was a month ago.
It's often brought up that the Cale Makar contract watch is beginning to seem like the beginning of the Mikko Rantanen saga. That, too, felt like an important piece of business concerning a core player which would get done eventually but it turned into a shocking trade born out of frustration. But there are several important facts to keep in mind before comparing the two Stanley Cup champions when it comes to financial matters. What should be the actual contract comparison is how fellow superstar Nathan MacKinnon's eight-year extension signed in 2022 is more closely aligned with Makar's situation. There's several facts that were forgotten since that deal came to fruition just four years ago.
At the time he signed that mega-deal in 2022 worth just over $100 million, MacKinnon was the NHL's highest paid player, there was no hometown discount. His $12.6 million Annual Average Value edged Edmonton's Connor McDavid's previous high mark by $100K. Toronto's Auston Matthews did eventually surpass MacKinnon with an extension paying him at a $13.25 million AAV but it was signed nearly a full year later in 2023 and kicked in the season after that. This means that for the entire 2023-24 season MacKinnon was the league's highest paid player in an era when the salary cap was still rising by only one million dollars per year. In the 2025-26 season the superstar Avalanche center was still the league's third highest paid player and currently sits at seventh highest heading into the upcoming season.
The other significant detail of MacKinnon's contract, which will apply to the Makar negotiations, is that he signed for 15.09% of the $83.5 million salary cap. If we extrapolate that to the projected $113.5 million salary cap for the 2027-28 season when Makar's next contract will begin, that's a base of $17.13 million per year if both parties want to match that. San Jose's Macklin Celebrini is a budding star forward and just signed for the highest cap hit in the NHL at $18.8 million AAV which also begins in the 2027-28 season. Does Makar have an incentive to beat this figure or is he only content to set salaries for defensemen? Minnesota's Quinn Hughes is keeping a close eye on negotiations but he's likely waiting for Makar to name his price first than the other way around. If Hughes does sign first, though, and sets the bar for yearly salary it could have any impact on where Makar's ask goes especially if the figure surpasses Celebrini's.
One reason for optimism is that MacKinnon put pen to pape

Villa supporters were queuing for a boat trip on the Salzach river this morning while many gathered around Makartsteg Bridge in the middle of Salzbug.
The club had a ticket allocation of just under 7,000 for Wednesday's Super Cup against PSG.
The belief behind Unai Emery is unwavering, despite a summer of change which has seen Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne depart.
Add to that a shift in Emery's backroom team, with ***** istant Paco Ayestaran and key set-piece coach Austin McPhee, who has joined Chelsea, among those to have left.
But Emery remains, vital to Villa's hopes having dragged them from a relegation battle to Europa League winners in three-and-a-half years.

#salzbug

Often the forgotten pending unrestricted free agent on the Colorado Avalanche, Artturi Lehkonen — like Cale Makar — has been eligible to sign a contract extension since July 1.
When general manager Joe Sakic was asked about Lehkonen's situation back in June, he said getting a deal done with the veteran forward was a priority for the Avalanche and something the team hoped to accomplish this summer.
Basically, it's no different than Makar's pending extension.
"We're going to talk to their agent in the summer. That focus is going to take place in the summer," Sakic said. "All the extensions — once we get to mid-July, that's when those talks start beginning. We're definitely going to be looking to hopefully come to an agreement with Artturi as well. He's such a big, important player for our team."
If that remains the plan, the Avalanche and Lehkonen's camp have now been in discussions for several weeks. But unlike Makar, there may not be much urgency to get a Lehkonen extension done immediately.

#artturi #lehkonen #makar #july

Michigan football writer Tony Garcia ranks the five most important players on the Wolverines' defense in 2026.
Michigan had to replace a pair of starters in the secondary last season when Will Johnson and Makari Paige left for the 2025 NFL Draft and while it brought in veterans like TJ Metcalf and Wesley Walker to fill in as experienced pieces, the DBs clearly missed their leader.
Shortly after former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale arrived in 2024, he compared Rod Moore to NFL All-Pro Eric Weddle in terms of his cognitive ability. While he doesn't wear the "green dot" with the headset to the defensive coordinator, Moore is the quarterback of the back end and ensures his running mates are on the same page and in the right positions.
THE OFFENSE: Ranking Michigan football's 5 most important offensive players in 2026
It was sorely missed the past two seasons, but he's said to be on track for a full return this year. While it remains to be seen where he is athletically after he comes back from multiple knee procedures, Moore's impact on the defense will be felt if he's even able to return to 80% of what he was when he was an All-Big Ten secondary piece in 2023.

#defensive

Michigan football writer Tony Garcia ranks the five most important players on the Wolverines' defense in 2026.
Michigan had to replace a pair of starters in the secondary last season when Will Johnson and Makari Paige left for the 2025 NFL Draft and while it brought in veterans like TJ Metcalf and Wesley Walker to fill in as experienced pieces, the DBs clearly missed their leader.
Shortly after former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale arrived in 2024, he compared Rod Moore to NFL All-Pro Eric Weddle in terms of his cognitive ability. While he doesn't wear the "green dot" with the headset to the defensive coordinator, Moore is the quarterback of the back end and ensures his running mates are on the same page and in the right positions.
THE OFFENSE: Ranking Michigan football's 5 most important offensive players in 2026
It was sorely missed the past two seasons, but he's said to be on track for a full return this year. While it remains to be seen where he is athletically after he comes back from multiple knee procedures, Moore's impact on the defense will be felt if he's even able to return to 80% of what he was when he was an All-Big Ten secondary piece in 2023.

#coordinator

By ******* hree Mukherjee
July 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose over 1% on Thursday as concerns over Middle East energy supplies increased after Iran asked Yemen's Houthis to stand ready to close ‌the Red Sea oil route.
Brent crude futures were up 88 cents, or 1.04%, to $85.83 a barrel ‌at 1237 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 94 cents, or 1.18%, to $80.54 a barrel.
"Simultaneous disruptions affecting Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would significantly amplify supply chain stress, increase tanker availability constraints, and raise insurance premiums," said Wael Makarem, financial markets strategist lead at Exness.
Iran has asked Yemen's Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a ‌potent new threat to global energy supplies.

The Colorado Eagles are going to look very different this upcoming season. With 11 free agents choosing to move on from the club, it was important that the Colorado Avalanche start investing in its youth. The Avs extending Taylor Makar's contract for two additional years is one way that they can show it. His extension was not because he shares the same last name as his older brother Cale; it is because he earned it. Taylor still has more to achieve and he might have a breakout season this upcoming year.
Last season, in Makar's first full season in the pros, he did a lot better than expected. He was used in every role from the penalty kill to the power play. His 14 goals and 10 **** ists led all rookies on the Eagles. His ability to adapt during games became his greatest **** et. Makar would find the weakness on the edge of the defense and go on the rush for an opportunity. It usually led to the Eagles getting a scoring chance or starting pressure in the zone. The biggest problem that the Maine Black Bear had was taking penalties. Makar had 56 penalty minutes in 52 games in the AHL. Most of them were at the worst time of the game for the Eagles. Now former head coach Mark Letestu mentioned it was Makar's one weakness. That he needed to learn to control his stick and his massive size.
Makar impressed the Avalanche with a call-up last season and played in 12 NHL games. So much so that he is one player named by Jared Bednar who will get ample chances this upcoming season. Makar showed drastic improvement during his opportunity with the Avalanche, coming very close to a goal frequently. Makar's learning experience in the AHL and the NHL will come in handy this coming season. He will be less hesitant, allowing his play to be more of a second nature. Chances are very high that the power forward could see top-six minutes while playing in Loveland and hopefully increased minutes on the bottom-six in Denver. If we put these factors together, Makar could see his first point in an Avalanche sweater and his first 20-goal season in his career.
Taylor has done a lot to distance himself in the way he plays his game from the way Cale does. Fans should not hold him to the same expectations as they do his older brother. I think Taylor could morph into a long-lasting bottom-six forward that can kill penalties and hit the offense off the puck. He may not take the same path as Cale did, but they will end up on the same bench once again this season.

On the day qualifying offers were due to Restricted Free Agents, the Colorado Avalanche bypassed the process by inking Taylor Makar to a two-year contract extension beginning the 2026-27 season with a $875k cap hit at the NHL level.
This is a nice deal for the younger Makar after only one year of pro hockey under his belt, with 24 points scored in 52 games and 12 games of call-up time in the NHL. No doubt holding arbitration rights gave the left wing some important leverage. The $300k guaranteed in year one of the deal is a significant raise on the $80k paid in the minors on his Entry Level Contract. The most significant portion of the extension is the ***** p up to $900k on a one-way deal in the 2027-28 season and is a sizable investment by the Avalanche. Once this deal expires Makar will be 27-years-old and an Unrestricted Free Agent.
In other Restricted Free Agent news, reports are forward Daniil Gushchin did not receive a qualifying offer after his one-year stint with the organization. It's safe to ***** ume that after the Avalanche traded for another winger in Fabian Lysell that he was extended a qualifying offer. With no arbitration rights afforded to Lysell there isn't a firm deadline to get him under contract but it likely won't be a difficult negotiation.