​IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectCale Makar has already won a Calder Trophy, two Norris Trophies, a Conn Smythe Trophy and a Stanley Cup championship.Now, he has added another accomplishment to his long list of accolades.Makar became the first player in NHL history to sign a contract worth $20 million or more in annual average value.Makar and the Colorado Avalanche agreed to terms on an eight-year extension worth $163.2 million on Thursday. Arguably the best defenseman in the league, Makar is in line to become the NHL’s highest-paid player beginning in the 2027-28 season.The deal is the culmination of years of planning by the Avalanche, who knew this day was coming almost from the moment Makar established himself as a superstar.Makar, 27, is coming off a 20-goal, 79-point season in 75 games. He finished second in Norris Trophy voting behind Zach Werenski and was once again among the three finalists for the award, marking the sixth consecutive season he has been a finalist.The only time Makar wasn’t a Norris finalist was his rookie season in 2019-20, when he instead took home the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.Since then, nobody has been better from the blueline.From the moment the Calgary, Alberta, native played his first regular-season game, Makar leads all defensemen in goals (136) and points (507), accomplishing those numbers in just 470 regular-season games. He also has a league-high 25 postseason goals among defensemen during that span.Now, the Avalanche are preparing to pay him like it.Makar’s new cap hit will account for 17.97% of the projected $113.5 million salary cap for the 2027-28 season. It was always known that Makar would cost the Avalanche a lot. The front office, led by Joe Sakic and former general manager Chris MacFarland, had spent years planning for the inevitable payday their star defenseman was going to receive.They ultimately got an early look at what that payday might look like after Makar’s rookie season and second playoff appearance. He had already done enough to show he would be among the best in the league for most of his career. Because he had burned through two years of his entry-level contract by making his NHL debut during the 2019 postseason, Colorado had to re-sign Makar just over 24 months after his first game.They got a deal done late in July 2021, signing Makar to a six-year, $54 million extension that, at the time, reset the market for young defensemen.That contract began during the 2021-22 season, the year Colorado eventually won the Stanley Cup with Makar winning his first Norris and the Conn Smythe. And the upcoming 2026-27 campaign will be the final season of the deal.The Avalanche spent much of the time since then preparing for what came next.Four years ago, Colorado locked up superstar center Nathan MacKinnon to an eight-year contract carrying a $12.6 million AAV. At the time, it was the richest contract in the NHL by AAV, narrowly surpassing the $12.5 million cap hit Connor M