Martin Nečas to become NHL’s top-earning Czech star

Hockey forward Martin Nečas has signed a new eight-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche and will become the highest-paid Czech player in the NHL next season. The club announced the extension on its website. According to unofficial reports, the 26-year-old Czech international will earn an average of $11.5 million per year (about 242.6 million Czech crowns).

The World Champion from Prague 2024 joined Colorado last season from Carolina and quickly became one of the team’s key players. In the current season, he has recorded 13 points in 11 games — seven goals and six assists — making him the third-most productive player on the Avalanche, behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

With this new deal, Nečas will surpass Boston Bruins star David Pastrňák, who is presently the highest-paid Czech athlete overall with a guaranteed annual salary of $12.5 million (about 263.7 million crowns). However, with the new contract Nečas’s salary in the 2026-2027 season will rise to $14 million, which would place him seventh in the entire NHL under current contracts.

The deal ties Nečas to Colorado until 2034 and is worth a total of $92 million (about 1.94 billion crowns). It represents a massive raise compared to his previous contract — a two-year deal signed last summer with Carolina worth $6.5 million per season.

Nečas has played in the NHL since the 2017–18 season, making his debut with Carolina, which drafted him 12th overall in 2017. He has since appeared in 452 NHL games, scoring 131 goals and collecting 208 assists. In 66 playoff games, he has added 12 goals and 23 assists. His career-best season came last year when he posted 83 points (27 goals, 56 assists).

The Czech-born forward was named to his country's preliminary roster for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy. He represented Czechia at the World Championship each of the last two seasons and captured gold in 2024. The first-place finish marked the country’s first gold medal at the World Championship since 2010. Necas also represented the Czechs at the World Championship in 2018 and holds a career scoring line of 7g/12a in 19 such contests.