- Joe Sakic says Avalanche extension talks with Artturi Lehkonen will carry into the regular season
- Lehkonen is in the final year of a $4.5M deal and can hit the open market next July
- Read below for the cap math that makes a Lehkonen extension so hard in Colorado
Joe Sakic is not putting a deadline on Artturi Lehkonen.
The Avalanche president of hockey operations told Altitude Sports Radio on Monday that talks with his top-line winger will carry into the regular season, per Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now. Sakic was asked where the two sides stand with a year left on the deal.
“We’ll continue talking with Artturi, his representatives, but it’s one of those things that we start the season and see where that goes,” Sakic said.
Those remarks landed the same afternoon Sakic sat next to Cale Makar in Denver to walk through the defenseman’s new deal. Watch the full availability:
Makar is the reason this got complicated. Colorado signed him to a record eight-year, $163.2 million extension on Aug. 28, a $20.4 million cap hit that runs through 2034-35.
Lehkonen carries a $4.5 million cap hit this season, the last year of the five-year deal he signed right after the 2022 Cup run. He turns 32 next July, so this is his one real shot at a long-term payday before he reaches the open market.
AFP Analytics projects his next deal at five years and a little under $8.7 million per season. That is nearly double his current number, and Brian La Rose of Pro Hockey Rumors laid out why Colorado will have trouble finding it.
If the projected $113.5 million upper limit holds for 2027-28, the Avs have roughly $11.6 million in room, per PuckPedia. Brent Burns can earn up to $2.15 million in games-played and ice-time bonuses this season, and most of that rolls onto next year’s cap.
Scott Wedgewood and Nicolas Roy are headed for unrestricted free agency too. Even if Colorado replaces both at the league minimum, the money left over does not stretch to Lehkonen’s projected price.
Losing him would sting. Lehkonen has reached 20 goals in three of his four full seasons with the Avalanche, including a career-high 27 in 2024-25, and his 70 games last season were the most he has played since arriving from Montreal. Colorado is otherwise bringing its entire core back for another run.
He also owns a postseason record most wingers cannot match. Since 2022 he has 23 goals and 41 points in 56 playoff games, including the overtime winner that finished Edmonton in the Western Conference Final and the Cup-clinching goal against Tampa Bay four games later.
Take another look at the goal that won the Cup:
Sakic has until July to find the money. As the cap sheet reads today, Lehkonen is playing out his final season in an Avalanche sweater.
