The NHL’s salary cap hit an all-time high for the 2025-26 season at $95.5 million, with a planned rise to $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season announced by the league. As the cap continues to rise, player salaries have increased with it.
Fresh off signing a new eight-year, $136 million contract, Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is the highest-paid NHL player on an average annual basis. Kaprizov burst onto the scene, scoring the fifth most points in the league (108) in his second season and has evolved into one of the game’s best offensive players. The three-time All-Star will look to bring a Stanley Cup to Minnesota for the first time in franchise history.
Next up is Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers, who earns $14 million annually. Draisaitl signed an eight-year extension in September 2024 that made him the highest-paid player in the league at the time. The Edmonton forward has registered four consecutive seasons with more than 100 points and won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2020. (As NHL salaries fluctuate year-to-year, Front Office Sports uses average annual contract value to rank the league’s top earners.)
Rounding out the top three is Jack Eichel, who signed an extension in October with the Vegas Golden Knights. Eichel recorded a career-high 94 points during the 2024-25 season and won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid, widely considered the best player in the NHL, doesn’t make the top five with his average salary of $12.5 million. The three-time Hart winner signed a team-friendly two-year extension in October to provide Oilers GM Stan Bowman with added financial flexibility to improve the roster in pursuit of a Stanley Cup.
Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson is the highest-paid defenseman on the list, with an AAV of $11.5 million. Karlsson overtook P.K. Subban in 2019 as the top earner at his position and hasn’t looked back, with longtime Sabre defender Rasmus Dahlin slightly behind him at $11 million.
Sharing the same yearly average of $11.5 million with Karlsson is Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin, who set the AAV record for a goalie in 2024, is second to Henrik Lundqvist in highest save percentage for a Ranger.
Artemi Panarin ($11.64 million) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million) are the two members of the list who will be free agents at the end of the 2025-26 season. As a Ranger, Panarin has scored 12 playoff goals and set a new career-high of 120 points during the 2023-24 season. Bobrovsky, one of two Panthers on the list, has won back-to-back Stanley Cups and is eighth all-time in wins for a goalie.
Ranking the Highest-Paid NHL Players by Contract AAV
Here are the top 25 highest-paid NHL players by average annual contract value, compiled using data from Spotrac.
- Updated: Feb. 10, 2026
| Rank | Player | Team | Average Annual Pay |
| 1 | Kirill Kaprizov | Minnesota Wild | $17 million |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl | Edmonton Oilers | $14 million |
| 3 | Jack Eichel | Vegas Golden Knights | $13.5 million |
| 4 | Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs | $13.25 million |
| 5 | Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | $12.6 million |
| 6 | Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers | $12.5 million |
| T-7 | Kyle Connor | Winnipeg Jets | $12 million |
| T-7 | Mitch Marner | Vegas Golden Knights | $12 million |
| T-7 | Mikko Rantanen | Dallas Stars | $12 million |
| 10 | Artemi Panarin | New York Rangers | $11.64 million |
| 11 | Elias Pettersson | Vancouver Canucks | $11.6 million |
| T-12 | Erik Karlsson | Pittsburgh Penguins | $11.5 million |
| T-12 | Martin Necas | Colorado Avalanche | $11.5 million |
| T-12 | William Nylander | Toronto Maple Leafs | $11.5 million |
| T-12 | Igor Shesterkin | New York Rangers | $11.5 million |
| 16 | David Pastrnak | Boston Bruins | $11.25 million |
| T-17 | Rasmus Dahlin | Buffalo Sabres | $11 million |
| T-17 | Drew Doughty | Los Angeles Kings | $11 million |
| 19 | Adrian Kempe | Los Angeles Kings | $10.63 million |
| 20 | Thomas Harley | Dallas Stars | $10.59 million |
| T-21 | Evan Bouchard | Edmonton Oilers | $10.5 million |
| T-21 | Jonathan Huberdeau | Calgary Flames | $10.5 million |
| T-23 | Aleksander Barkov | Florida Panthers | $10 million |
| T-23 | Logan Cooley | Utah Mammoth | $10 million |
| T-23 | Sergei Bobrovsky | Florida Panthers | $10 million |
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