Martin Nečas re-signs with Avalanche for 8 years, $11.5 million AAV — Here’s how it got done
Another premier forward will not make it to unrestricted free agency. Martin Nečas re-signed with the Colorado Avalanche for eight years and $92 million (an average annual value of $11.5 million), the team announced on Thursday.
Nečas’ AAV will put him second on the Avalanche to superstar center Nathan McKinnon ($12.6 million AAV), who signed an eight-year, $100.8 million extension in 2022. Nečas is finishing up a two-year, $6.5 million AAV deal he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2024.
Nečas’ new deal includes $60.4 million in signing bonus money, according to league sources.
Negotiations were stuck for a while, with Colorado citing Cale Makar’s next contract as a factor in talks with the Nečas camp and a reason why the Avalanche had to be careful. Makar can be extended next summer from his current deal, which pays him $9 million a year, and the world’s best defenseman is in for a huge raise. That reality, according to league sources, was central in talks with the Nečas camp, talks that go back to last summer.
There’s no question that Logan Cooley’s $10 million AAV extension on Wednesday helped move the needle. Once the Avalanche moved up to $11.5 million AAV, that was enough for Nečas to say yes. He’s found a home in Colorado, where the team’s fast-paced style fits nicely with his skating ability.
This is the first long-term contract for Nečas, and the Avalanche were able to retain the key piece they acquired from the Hurricanes after trading star forward Mikko Rantanen to Carolina as part of a three-team blockbuster move last January. Several weeks later, Rantanen was traded to the Dallas Stars, with whom he promptly signed an eight-year extension.
The reality is that Nečas could have commanded more than $11.5 million AAV on the open market, but he didn’t want to leave a place where he has fit in so well.
Nečas has found a home in Rantanen’s old spot on MacKinnon’s right wing. Nečas, the No. 12 overall draft pick by Carolina in 2017, is off to the best start of his career, with seven goals and six assists in 11 games. He has recorded at least one point in nine of 11 games.
Between Carolina and Colorado last season, the Czech forward totaled 27 goals and a career-high 83 points. He had 28 points in 30 games with the Avalanche following the trade.
Nečas re-upping with the Avalanche further dilutes the potential 2026 UFA class, after Kirill Kaprizov, Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor all signed extensions to remain with their teams.
Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings is next on the list as a potential UFA forward in his prime. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Artemi Panarin are big names on expiring contracts, but are also older. Jason Robertson and Trevor Zegras are currently on deals that would make them arbitration-eligible restricted free agents next summer.
