Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon Willing to Take Less Again on Next Deal

Nathan MacKinnon took signed long-term on a deal that’s a huge bargain now, and he’s willing to take a team-friendly deal again.

by
NHL Trade Talk
June 7, 2021

Nathan MacKinnon is one of the best values in the NHL. His current contract is among the league’s greatest bargains and recent comments by the player suggest he’s well aware of it. Underpaid at the rate of $6.3 million per season, most believe that when his contract comes up for renewal (2023-24), the Colorado Avalanche will make good and pay him handsomely for time served as a bargain.

The speedy center told Forbes’ Jordan Horrobin, that as much as he realizes his contact is a steal now, he’s not at all upset that he went the route he did and locked in long-term versus testing his production with a bridge deal that is a lot more common these days. “I was just excited to get paid that much money at such a young age,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously it’s pretty (team) friendly now, but I was worth that at the time.. “… I have no regrets.”

This is fantastic news for the Avalanche who have a lot of contracts and internal business to take care of. Among GM Joe Sakic’s priorities are a deal for goaltender Philipp Grubauer, new deals for Gabriel Landeskog and Brandon Saad, plus a RFA contract for defenceman Cale Makar. By the time MacKinnon is ready to sign again, a lot of money will have been committed to other core members of the roster.

MacKinnon Did It Before, He’ll Do It Again

Noting that if he wasn’t willing to take another discount the Avs might not be able to get all their internal housekeeping done, MacKinnon explained, “On my next deal, I’ll take less again. Because I want to win with this group.” Again, that’s good news because without a few bargains, NHL teams can’t keep everyone in a salary cap NHL.

It’s not clear how much of a discount he’s willing to take and it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll take less than what he’s making now, but he’s not ready to jeopardize winning to make as much as he can.

What do you think he’s worth on an extension?

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