The NHL is home to the finest hockey players in the world, and a huge part of making that happen is the league’s spending power. Next season, NHL teams are set to increase their pay sheets by $4.2 million to $87.7 million.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every player on an NHL roster will get a pay raise. More likely, the best players in the league in the most advantageous signing situations will be able to buff their incomes.
Before the next big salary cap bump comes into play, these are the highest-paid players in the NHL as of the 2023/24 season per annual average salaries (which include the salary and performance bonuses).
1) Nathan MacKinnon
Topping the charts as the highest paid player in the NHL this season is Nathan MacKinnon. The Colorado Avalanche center takes home an annual average salary of $12.6 million across his eight-year deal.
Ending at the conclusion of the 2030/31 season, MacKinnon actually enjoyed a much more lucrative 2023/24 than his average take, collecting a $16.5 million salary thanks to the $15.725 million signing bonus.
This season, MacKinnon has certainly paid back the faith put in him as the reigning highest-paid player in the NHL, playing all 82 regular season games to score 51 goals and 140 points.
Out at +1000 in the NHL futures to land the Stanley Cup at the time of writing, the Avs will be hoping that their star center puts in many of those next-level performances that the Halifax man’s become known for.
2) Connor McDavid
Having signed his eight-year contract for the 2018/19 season onwards, Connor McDavid was rightly the highest-paid player in the NHL for five consecutive seasons, collecting $12.5 million in average annual salary.
Like MacKinnon’s deal, McDavid’s was very front-loaded, with signing bonuses earning him more in the opening years of his deal than what is now the final three years, going from an initial $15 million to $11 million in 2023/24.
Even so, the Edmonton Oilers captain continues to put up incredible numbers that help to compensate for some of the areas that the team is lacking. This season, he eclipsed 100 points again to go for 32 goals and 132 points.
Essentially with three more guaranteed shots at the crown (with his contract ending in 2026), McDavid will be going all-out again to get the Oilers to make good on their +700 odds in the betting online to win the title.
3) Artemi Panarin
After six seasons in the KHL, Artemi Panarin arrived as a seasoned scorer, putting up over 30 goals in his first two NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he’d break the franchise record twice for points scoring.
So, entering the 2019 offseason as a free agent, the sniper was one of the top targets and ended up signing a seven-year, $81.5 million deal with the New York Rangers.
That contract and its annual average salary of $11,642,857 holds the Russian as the third highest-paid player in the NHL this season, and just as he’s put up another superb year of scoring with 49 goals and 120 points.
4) Auston Matthews
For now, Auston Matthews ranks fourth among the highest-paid NHL players, but next season, he’ll move to the top spot.
In 2023/24, Matthews clocked in an annual average salary of $11,640,240 to finish his five-year deal, but luckily for Buds fans, he’s already locked in for another four years.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are paying up big to keep the sniper who scored 69 goals and 107 points this season, bumping his pay to an average of $13.25 million per year as of the 2024/25 campaign.
5) Erik Karlsson
There was a time when Erik Karlsson was held up as the finest offensive defenseman in the NHL, so when the San Jose Sharks rather fortuitously landed the Swede amidst their Cup window, it made sense to lock him down.
Unfortunately for the California club, Karlsson’s massive $11.5 million annual average salary hamstrung team building, and the defenseman failed to play more than 56 games over the next three seasons.
In 2022/23, Karlsson was suddenly fully fit, scored 101 points in 82 games, and was destined for a big trade away while the Sharks organization delved into a maximum rebuild.
General manager Mike Grier was hailed for shipping Karlsson off while only retaining $1.5 million, and while he did play a full season of 82 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Swede could only muster 56 points.
His deal runs until the end of the 2026/27 season, when the blueliner will be 36-years-old.
While those are the highest-paid NHL players right now, next season, Auston Matthews will move to the top spot, and another player – perhaps an impending UFA – might just sign a deal that rockets them up the rankings.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
