DENVER (AP) — Sam Malinski's breakout season was rewarded Tuesday when the Colorado Avalanche signed the defenseman to a four-year extension.
The deal is reported to be worth $19 million, with an annual cap hit of $4.75 million.
The 27-year-old Malinski has already set career-highs with 21 assists and 24 points in logging 16 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time per game. He's second among defensemen on the team in assists behind reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar.
"Sam is a hard-working defenseman who has great skating and puck-moving ability,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said in a statement. “His commitment to the defensive side of the game has turned him into a reliable defenseman for us.”
It's another instance where the Avalanche have rewarded an up-and-coming player this season. In November, Gavin Brindley signed a two-year contract extension less than 48 hours after scoring his first NHL overtime winner. The 5-foot-8, 173-pound Brindley was acquired by Colorado on June 27 as part of a deal that sent Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to Columbus.
Three months ago, the Avalanche signed Martin Necas to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension through 2034.
The Avalanche brought in Malinski as a college free agent in March 2023. He made the opening roster in 2024-25 and has been a fixture on the blueline since. He has 11 goals and 38 assists over 149 career regular-season appearances. Malinski also played in five games, with one assist, in the playoffs for Colorado last season against Dallas.
Malinski, who is 5-foot-11, 190-pounds, suited up for Cornell University from 2019-23. The Lakeville, Minnesota, native was a team captain in 2022-23.
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Washington Capitals left wing Anthony Beauvillier, right, struggles to collect the puck along the boards as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski, left, covers in the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski, left, congratulates center Gavin Brindley (54) after their team defeated the Washington Capitals in an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least seven people and wounded others on Saturday despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, officials said.
Israel’s military on Saturday issued a new warning for residents of nine southern villages to evacuate. Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group have kept up their attacks despite a ceasefire in place since April 17.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported an airstrike on a car in the village of Kfar Dajal killed two people, while another hit a home in the village of Lwaizeh, killing three. Two others were killed in a strike on the village of Shoukin, it said.
Israel’s military Arabic-language spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, posted on X that the Israeli air force carried out about 50 airstrikes over the past 24 hours targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and members.
Hezbollah said that it attacked with a drone Israeli troops who gathered on Saturday inside a house in the coastal village of Bayed.
Over the past weeks, the Israeli army has been leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed group.
The Israeli military released a new video that it said shows Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon being blown up. The video, released Friday, shows soldiers holding an Israeli flag and walking among the destruction of a soccer stadium in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil. The military said on its website that the air force “destroyed the town’s stadium after it was discovered to be booby-trapped.”
The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on its main backer, Iran. Israel has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the border.
Since then, Lebanon and Israel have held their first direct talks in more than three decades. The two countries have formally been in a state of war since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. A 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington went into effect on April 17. The ceasefire was later extended by three weeks.
Associated Press writer Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Sanaa Khalil, 35, a Syrian farmer who lost her two legs in the past days by an Israeli airstrike while she was working at a banana plantation, lies on a bed as she is assisted by a relative at a hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
