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)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of mourners began a dayslong funeral Saturday for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, beating their chests in sorrow before the glass case containing his flag-draped coffin in Tehran and calling for revenge against Israel and the United States.
The funeral for Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades before being killed at age 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike in the opening moments of the Iran war, could provide a boost for the country's theocracy and its new supreme leader, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
That is particularly important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
During the ceremony, Iran's top negotiator issued a warning to France and the United Kingdom over their comments about potentially launching joint patrols in the waterway, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime.
Mourners wept at the sight of Khamenei's coffin alongside those of his family members also killed in the airstrike, with some chanting: “Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” Some carried banners and flags, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.
“Imam Khamenei was our heart, our father, our everything,” mourner Masoumeh Mohammadi said. “I still can’t believe they martyred him. We will not rest until we avenge his death.”
An outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage where Khamenei once gave his speeches at a husseiniyah at his compound in downtown Tehran. A chair like the one he once sat in while giving his sermons, complete with a microphone on a stand and a small table next to it. Just above it hung an image of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989.
Khomeini's funeral saw chaotic scenes as millions thronged his mourning ceremony and trip to the cemetery. Khamenei's death, only the second time Iran has lost a supreme leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, came months earlier and gave authorities more time to prepare.
On Saturday, volunteers sprayed cooling water on crowds in the summertime heat as stands outside offered food and drink. Men and women congregated separately inside the Grand Mosalla after being checked by metal detectors and body searches. Police armed with assault rifles stood guard on surrounding streets. Many stayed outside in the street, lounging under the shade of trees because the city had shut down.
The caskets of his dead family members sat beneath Khamenei's, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. The dead included the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei, whose possible appearance at the funeral remained unclear. He reportedly was wounded in the attack that killed his father.
“We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion,” said Ali Kazemi, who came from the northwestern city of Tabriz, some 530 kilometers (330 miles) away from Tehran.
Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S., to begin the funeral. While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted: “Death to America!” The refrain has been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis. They also cried: “Death to Israel!”
“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a speech at the same time in South Dakota in front of Mount Rushmore. “They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.”
The American president was not forgotten in Tehran. In the crowd in Grand Mosalla, several mourners held a large flag that read: “#KillTrump.”
As the ceremony went on, Iran's chief negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi criticized a joint statement overnight from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, which suggested their militaries stood ready to patrol the Strait of Hormuz.
Control of the strait has been a major point of leverage for Iran, which has suggested it wants to charge vessels passing through it, upending decades of the world considering it an international waterway.
“The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states — the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism,” Gharibabadi wrote on X. “This is a serious warning.”
Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he's buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei's place of birth.
Authorities offered no immediate attendance count for the event Saturday, which saw the crowds cycle in and out of the Grand Mosalla and the surrounding streets. Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.
On Sunday, a prayer for the dead is planned at the Grand Mosalla. On Monday, his body and those of his family will be taken through the streets of Tehran, which likely will draw large crowds.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Mourners attend the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family are displayed on a platform above an empty chair at the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family are displayed on a stand at the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners attend the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners attend the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A crowd attends the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man holds a picture of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a crowd waits for his casket to arrive at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque for the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Revolutionary Guard members and clerics mourn on the esplanade of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque as preparations are underway ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran's Basij paramilitary forces set up a checkpoint at a square ahead of the funeral ceremonies of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown at the billboard at rear, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The casket of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, is displayed alongside the caskets of Khamenei and other members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian religious leaders and other mourners pay their respects before the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
