DEAL DONE: Colorado Avalanche confirm another vital huge deal

July 1 is a significant date in the National Hockey League, marking the start of the free agent market. On this day, unrestricted free agents who are not under contract can sign with any team.

Additionally, July 1 has another important aspect. It signifies that the number of years remaining on NHL players’ contracts decreases by one season, allowing teams to announce contract extensions for players with only one year left on their contracts.

Kent Hughes exemplified this by offering Juraj Slafkovsky an eight-year contract extension worth $7.6 million annually on July 1. Consequently, the 20-year-old Slovak winger is now under contract with the Montreal Canadiens for the next nine seasons, as he had one year left on his NHL entry-level contract.

In essence, other teams can also extend contracts for players with one season remaining. According to recent rumors, Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen is close to signing a substantial contract extension with Colorado.

Had some construction going in the studio today, so it was a rare work from home day. Took the day to make a couple calls and fire off some texts..

Sounds like the Rantanen extension is close, should be done soon. Expecting it to be long-term (7 or 8 years potentially). #GoAvsGo

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) July 18, 2024

Indeed, that’s what Jesse Montano, a journalist covering the Colorado Avalanche, reported.

According to him, a contract extension between the two parties is imminent and is expected to be long-term, lasting seven or eight seasons.

The annual value of the potential contract is not yet known, but it is expected to exceed $10 million per year.

Rantanen currently earns $9.25 million per season, a salary he has received for the past five years. While this is already a substantial amount, Rantanen’s recent performance suggests a salary increase is warranted.

He has just completed two consecutive 100+ point seasons, scoring 55 goals and 42 goals respectively. These impressive numbers justify Rantanen asking for around $12 million per year.

At just 27 years old, Rantanen is one of the top players in the NHL and would certainly deserve such a salary.

However, it remains to be seen if the Avalanche’s Finnish winger will choose to take slightly less money to help his team navigate the salary cap in the coming years.

Stay tuned.