His contract to other science – Newspaper Kommersant No. 175 (7376) dated 09/22/2022

Nathan McKinnon, the leader of this season’s Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche, has become the highest paid player in NHL history. He has signed an eight-year contract with his club that will average $12.6 million a season starting next year. The contract with McKinnon looks like a bonus to the forward for both sporting achievements and modest financial requests in the past. But he could create serious staffing problems for the Colorado in the future if the league does not decide on a sharp increase in the hard salary cap.

The Colorado Avalanche have signed a new eight-year contract with the team that won the Stanley Cup in June after defeating Tampa Bay Lightning winner Nathan McKinnon in the Finals, the NHL announced. The agreement will enter into force next year, after the expiration of the current one. And the news about him turned into an informational hit for a very understandable reason.

Neither the NHL, nor the Colorado, nor, of course, the hockey player himself said anything about his amount. But all the leading North American media resources, such as ESPN, TSN, CapFriendly, talking about McKinnon’s contract, named the same amount – $100.8 million. the first three years. But in the NHL, it’s customary to take into account the average annual cost of agreements: it is this that matters in determining whether a club’s payroll meets the salary cap. So, 27-year-old McKinnon has an average annual income of $12.6 million.

Thus, the new contract will make the striker the highest paid player in NHL history. Nathan McKinnon will overtake last season’s top scorer, another Canadian, Connor McDavid, who plays for the Edmonton Oilers. He receives $12.5 million per season. At the same time, the list of NHL players whose average annual contract payments reach or exceed $ 10 million, along with McKinnon, who replenished it, is now only 14 people. Among them are two Russians. In third place is New York Rangers forward Artemiy Panarin ($11.64 million), and Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is in 12th ($10 million).

The chic contract that went to Nathan McKinnon can be considered a kind of award not only for sporting achievements. The forward has great stats. His average performance in the past five seasons has gone off scale for 1.3 points per game. In Colorado’s triumphant season last season, he scored 88 points in 65 regular season games and 24 points in 20 playoff games, scoring 13 goals. At the same time, McKinnon’s teammates and her coach Jared Bednar noted the striker’s highest leadership and motivational qualities.

But no less important, apparently, is another circumstance. The point is the size of the contract that will replace the new one. Entered into force in 2016, when Nathan McKinnon was already a superstar with huge potential, he looked rather modest for a player of that status. McKinnon earned from it exactly half as much as he would earn from 2023 – $ 6.3 million. American publications call such contracts “friendly”, meaning that the player deliberately sacrifices financial ambitions, helping the club to collect a combat-ready application.

For the NHL, this help is very relevant. The hard salary cap has been in effect since 2006, and the league is very carefully raising it. In the upcoming season, which opens in October, it will be equal to $82.5 million, which is only $1 million more than the previous figure. This policy significantly complicates the life of club managers when recruiting teams. ESPN has no doubt that thanks to McKinnon’s concessions, Colorado managed to form a championship team by entering into expensive – under $ 10 million a year – agreements with such key hockey players as forward Mikko Rantanen and defenseman Cale Makar. And thanks to these concessions, this summer the club did not suffer the fate of many Stanley Cup winners, who were forced to shake up the squad in the wake of success and increased requests from its leaders. “Colorado” parted ways with some significant players – goaltender Darcy Kemper, forward Nazem Kadri, but still saved the backbone.

True, Nathan McKinnon’s record-breaking contract could create serious personnel problems for Colorado in the future, when it will have to deal with the renewal of contracts with a whole group of players entering the free agent market in the middle of this decade. And in this sense, Colorado can only hope for the honesty of the leaders of the NHL, who have repeatedly promised in the coming years from a smooth increase in the salary cap to move to a sharper one.

Alexey Dospekhov