NHL Notebook: Avalanche sign Martin Nečas to eight-year, $92 million deal
Photo credit: © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Oct 31, 2025, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 31, 2025, 14:25 EDT
On Thursday, the Colorado Avalanche signed Martin Nečas to a massive eight-year, $92 million extension, with an annual cap hit of $11.5 million. He is now just the latest top 2026 free agent to come off the board, as next summer’s market continues to look drier by the day.
Nečaswas dealt to the Avalanche last season from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Mikko Rantanen in a three-team trade. It came at the end of a dramatic saga between the Avalanche and Rantanen, reportedly unwilling to offer the size of contract he was looking for as he geared up for free agency. Rantanen eventually ended up with the Dallas Stars, where he signed an eight-year extension, with an average annual value of $12 million–just 500k more than what Nečas signed for this week.
Of course, the Avalanche’s Nečas extension begs a bigger question for many fans: why was Colorado willing to fork over that kind of cash for Nečas and not for Rantanen? DFO’s Tyler Yaremchuk addressed the query on Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, saying:
The one narrative that people seem to be really jumping down the Avalanche’s throat is, “Well you could have had Rantanen for $500,000 more!” Well, no, that wasn’t the case. You have to go back in time: the Avalanche were offering him $11 or $12 million, according to all the reports.Rantanen wanted more, he wanted $13 or $14 million. The two reasons he agreed to sign in Dallas was: 1) Tax-free state, meaning that $12 million in Texas is $13.5 or $14 million in Colorado, and 2) He asked the Avs and the Carolina Hurricanes for more, and they both said no. When you get to that third team and they say no to $14 million, you sit there and think, “Maybe I should just take $12 million.”I don’t think it’s fair for people to be criticizing the Avs, even though I still don’t love this number for Nečas. It’s not fait to criticism them and say they could have had Rantanen for slightly more.
Nevertheless, given the similar contracts between the two players, expect them to be compared extensively through the rest of their careers as fans argue if the Avalanche made the right call.
More from around the NHL:
- The Minnesota Wild are reportedly just the latest team to be searching for a middle-six forward early this season.
- Boston Bruins centre Elias Lindholm is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres.
- Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters that it “doesn’t look great” for Seth Jarvis after a blocked shot forced him to leave the game Thursday night.
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