Lehkonen’s Contract Talks Heat Up | Colorado Avalanche News

The Colorado Avalanche just shattered their own payroll record by locking up Cale Makar with an eight-year, $163.2M deal — but now the real test begins with Artturi Lehkonen, whose contract expires this offseason. At 31 and in his final year on a modest $4.5M deal, Lehkonen remains a vital piece: a consistent scorer (27 goals last season), playoff hero (including the Cup-winning goal), and trusted top-line winger alongside MacKinnon. While health concerns linger — he played only 70 games last season despite injuries — GM Joe Sakic says talks could drag into the regular season. The question is: can they afford to keep him? And if not, will he still be the clutch, reliable force they need him to be? Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/bade6e4fcece005b