Colorado Avalanche give Nathan MacKinnon 8-year, $100.8M extension

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Instead of being one of the league's best bargains, Nathan MacKinnon is about to become the highest-paid player in the game.

According to multiple reports, the Colorado Avalanche agreed to an eight-year, $100.8 million extension with Nathan MacKinnon. The richest contract in the salary cap era is going to be signed by Mac Kinnon. His new deal makes him the highest paid center in the world by $100,000 over the next three years.

MacKinnon's previous extension was seven years and saw him earn $6.3 million annually.

Given his level of production and the value of his deal, the contract situation of the three-time Hart Trophy finalist has been a topic of discussion. Over the last five seasons, Mac Kinnon has averaged 1.31 points per game.

Since winning the third Stanley Cup in franchise history, there has been an active off-season with the re-signing of MacKinnon. The assistant GM Chris MacFarland was promoted to the GM. MacFarland signed Valeri Nichushkin to an eight-year extension that carries a $6.125 million cap hit and re-signed Artturi Lehkonen to a five-year contract.

The Avs lost second-line center Kadri and goalie Kuemper in the off-season. The expectation was that Evan would compete with J.T. Compher and Alex Newhook for the center role, so they signed him to a one-year deal. The Avs made a trade with the New York Rangers to get goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Getting a new deal done for MacKinnon does more than make him the highest paid player in the game. The Avs have made an effort to keep most of their core intact. Samuel and Mikko Rantanen were the first two people to sign extensions. The two players signed seven-year deals worth $5 million each and six-year extensions worth $8.25 million. They traded for Toews a year later and signed him to a four-year contract.

Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar were re-signed by the front office. Landeskog got an eight-year deal worth $7 million annually, while Makar got a six-year deal worth $9 million annually.

The Avalanche are projected to have $13.987 million in cap space thanks to MacKinnon's contract. They have to make other decisions over the next season. Newhook and Byram are the team's first-round picks in 2019. Compher is set to be an unrestricted free agent while Rodrigues is set to be an unrestricted free agent. There will be a pending UFA on the veteran defender.