Why did the Avalanche pay Martin Necas instead of Mikko Rantanen?

The Colorado Avalanche signed Martin Necas to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension on Thursday, which will pay him $11.5 million through the 2033-24 campaign.

Necas, 26, was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and was considered one of the top options on the market. But some hockey fans are wondering if the Avalanche would have been better off to re-sign Mikko Rantanen, who was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and eventually landed with the Dallas Stars, signing an eight-year, $96 million contract with an annual average value of $12 million.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss Necas’ extension and whether the narrative around him and Rantanen is fair.

Tyler Yaremchuk: 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 were: 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 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 Necas. It’s not fait to criticism them and say they could have had Rantanen for slightly more.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…