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Who are NHL's highest-paid players? Ranking hockey stars' salaries, cap hits
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- Who are NHL's highest-paid players? Ranking hockey stars' salaries, cap hits
The NHL will enter the 2025-26 season with a new highest-paid player for the third season in a row.
That honor goes to Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl , who signed an eight-year, $112 million extension ($14 million cap hit) in 2024.
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That deal takes effect this season, pushing him past last year's leader, Toronto's Auston Matthews ($13.25 million). Matthews had passed Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6 million, starting in 2023-24), who had topped Edmonton's Connor McDavid ($12.5 million since 2018-19).
Draisaitl's reign will last only a year after Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov signed an eight-year, $136 million extension that kicks in next season. It sets a record in total amount and $17 million cap.
McDavid won't pass him after signing a team-friendly deal in October.
Here's a look at the highest-paid players for the 2025-26 season (figures from puckpedia.com ):
Highest-paid NHL players by cap hit
Top 50 plus ties
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C Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, $14,000,000
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C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs , $13,250,000
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C Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche, $12,600,000
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C Connor McDavid, Oilers, $12,500,000
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RW Mitch Marner , Golden Knights , $12,000,000
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RW Mikko Rantanen , Stars, $12,000,000
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LW Artemi Panarin , Rangers, $11,642,857
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C Elias Pettersson , Canucks , $11,600,000
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D Erik Karlsson , Penguins, $11,500,000
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C William Nylander , Maple Leafs, $11,500,000
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G Igor Shesterkin , Rangers, $11,500,000
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RW David Pastrnak , Bruins, $11,250,000
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D Drew Doughty , Kings, $11,000,000
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D Rasmus Dahlin , Sabres, $11,000,000
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D Evan Bouchard , Oilers, $10,500,000
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LW Jonathan Huberdeau , Flames, $10,500,000
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C Aleksander Barkov , Panthers, $10,000,000 ( currently injured )
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C Jack Eichel , Golden Knights, $10,000,000
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G Sergei Bobrovsky , Panthers, $10,000,000
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C Tyler Seguin, Stars, $9,850,000
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C Sebastian Aho , Hurricanes, $9,750,000
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D Zach Werenski , Blue Jackets, $9,583,333
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LW Alex Ovechkin , Capitals, $9,500,000
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RW Mark Stone , Golden Knights, $9,500,000
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RW Nikita Kucherov , Lightning, $9,500,000
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D Seth Jones , Panthers, $9,500,000
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C Brayden Point , Lightning, $9,500,000
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LW Matthew Tkachuk , Panthers, $9,500,000
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D Charlie McAvoy , Bruins, $9,500,000
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D Adam Fox , Rangers, $9,500,000
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D Noah Dobson , Canadiens, $9,500,000
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G Andrei Vasilevskiy , Lightning, $9,500,000
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D Darnell Nurse , Oilers, $9,250,000
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C Mathew Barzal , Islanders , $9,150,000
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D Roman Josi , Predators, $9,059,000
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D Dougie Hamilton , Devils, $9,000,000
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LW Jake Guentzel , Lightning, $9,000,000
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LW Kirill Kaprizov , Wild, $9,000,000
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D Jakob Chychrun , Capitals, $9,000,000
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D Cale Makar , Avalanche, $9,000,000
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D Luke Hughes , Devils, $9,000,000
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D Alex Pietrangelo , Golden Knights, $8,800,000 (currently injured)
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RW Timo Meier , Devils, $8,800,000
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RW Travis Konecny , Flyers, $8,750,000
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C Sidney Crosby , Penguins, $8,700,000
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C Dylan Larkin , Red Wings , $8,700,000
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LW Patrik Laine , Canadiens, $8,700,000
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C Sam Reinhart , Panthers, $8,625,000
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D Moritz Seider , Red Wings, $8,550,000
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D Brock Faber , Wild, $8,500,000
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C Mika Zibanejad , Rangers, $8,500,000
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C Mark Scheifele , Jets, $8,500,000
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C Filip Forsberg, Predators, $8,500,000
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C Bo Horvat , Islanders, $8,500,000
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LW Nikolaj Ehlers, Hurricanes, $8,500,000
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D Ivan Provorov , Blue Jackets, $8,500,000
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C Pierre-Luc Dubois , Capitals, $8,500,000
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D Mikhail Sergachev , Mammoth, $8,500,000
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G Connor Hellebuyck , Jets, $8,500,000
Highest-paid NHL players by salary
Top 30 plus ties
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C Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, $16,500,000
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C Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche, $16,050,000
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G Igor Shesterkin, Rangers, $15,825,000
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C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, $15,200,000
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RW Mitch Marner, Golden Knights, $15,000,000
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RW Mikko Rantanen, Stars, $15,000,000
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C Elias Pettersson, Canucks, $14,500,000
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C William Nylander, Maple Leafs, $13,500,000
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RW David Pastrnak, Bruins, $12,500,000
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D Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres, $12,000,000
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D Evan Bouchard, Oilers, $12,000,000
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C Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes, $12,000,000
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C Brayden Point, Lightning, $12,000,000
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D Noah Dobson, Canadiens, $12,000,000
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C Aleksander Barkov, Panthers, $11,600,000
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D Dougie Hamilton, Devils, $11,550,000
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D Charlie McAvoy, Bruins, $11,500,000
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C Pierre-Luc Dubois, Capitals, $11,350,000
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LW Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers, $11,250,000
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D Mikhail Sergachev, Mammoth, $11,050,000
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D Drew Doughty, Kings, $11,000,000
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D Jakob Chychrun, Capitals, $11,000,000
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RW Travis Konecny, Flyers, $11,000,000
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D Miro Heiskanen , Stars, $11,000,000
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C Seth Jarvis , Hurricanes, $10,950,000
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RW Timo Meier, Devils, $10,750,000
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LW Jonathan Huberdeau, Flames, $10,500,000
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D Seth Jones, Panthers, $10,500,000
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L Brady Tkachuk , Senators, $10,500,000
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C Jordan Kyrou , Blues, $10,500,000
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C Robert Thomas , Blues, $10,500,000
Highest-paid NHL defensemen by cap hit
New Jersey's Luke Hughes joined the list on Oct. 1 when he signed a seven-year, $63 million contract. Anaheim's Jackson LaCombe signed an eight-year extension the following day, also for a reported $9 million cap hit. That deal kicks in next season.
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Erik Karlsson, Penguins, $11,500,000
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Drew Doughty, Kings, $11,000,000
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Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres, $11,000,000
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Evan Bouchard, Oilers, $10,500,000
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Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets, $9,583,333
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Seth Jones, Panthers, $9,500,000
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Charlie McAvoy, Bruins, $9,500,000
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Adam Fox, Rangers, $9,500,000
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Noah Dobson, Canadiens, $9,500,000
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Darnell Nurse, Oilers, $9,250,000
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Roman Josi, Predators, $9,059,000
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Dougie Hamilton, Devils, $9,000,000
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Jakob Chychrun, Capitals, $9,000,000
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Cale Makar, Avalanche, $9,000,000
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Luke Hughes, Devils, $9,000,000
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Alex Pietrangelo, Golden Knights, $8,800,000 (currently injured)
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Moritz Seider, Red Wings, $8,550,000
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Ivan Provorov, Blue Jackets, $8,500,000
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Mikhail Sergachev, Mammoth, $8,500,000
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Brock Faber, Wild, $8,500,000
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Miro Heiskanen, Stars, $8,450,000
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Owen Power , Sabres, $8,350,000
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Jake Sanderson , Senators, $8,050,000
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John Carlson , Capitals, $8,000,000
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Victor Hedman , Lightning, $8,000,000
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Jacob Trouba , Ducks, $8,000,000
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Thomas Chabot , Senators, $8,000,000
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Quinn Hughes, Canucks, $7,850,000
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Jared Spurgeon , Wild, $7,575,000
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Morgan Rielly , Maple Leafs, $7,500,000
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K'Andre Miller, Hurricanes, $7,500,000
Highest-paid NHL goaltenders by cap hit
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Igor Shesterkin, Rangers, $11,500,000
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Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers, $10,000,000
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Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, $9,500,000
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Connor Hellebuyck, Jets, $8,500,000
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Jeremy Swayman , Bruins, $8,250,000
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Jake Oettinger , Stars, $8,250,000
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Ilya Sorokin , Islanders, $8,250,000
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Linus Ullmark , Senators, $8,250,000
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Juuse Saros , Predators, $7,740,000
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Lukas Dostal , Ducks, $6,500,000
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John Gibson , Red Wings, $6,400,000
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Adin Hill , Golden Knights, $6,250,000
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Jacob Markstrom , Devils, $6,000,000
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Jordan Binnington , Blues, $6,000,000
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Philipp Grubauer , Kraken, $5,900,000
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Logan Thompson , Capitals, $5,850,000
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Elvis Merzlikins , Blue Jackets, $5,400,000
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Tristan Jarry , Penguins, $5,375,000
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MacKenzie Blackwood , Avalanche, $5,250,000
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Darcy Kuemper , Kings, $5,250,000
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Joey Daccord , Kraken, $5,000,000
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Thatcher Demko, Canucks, $5,000,000
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Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen , Sabres, $4,750,000
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Karel Vejmelka , Mammoth, $4,750,000
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Kevin Lankinen, Canucks, $4,500,000
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Spencer Knight , Blackhawks, $4,500,000
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Petr Mrazek , Ducks, $4,250,000
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Joonas Korpisalo , Bruins, $4,000,000
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Filip Gustavsson , Wild, $3,750,000
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Joseph Woll , Maple Leafs, $3,666,667
Who could pass Leon Draisaitl as top-paid player?
Kirill Kaprizov already will when his extension kicks in during the 2026-27 season.
His $17 million standard might stick for a while. McDavid, who was thought to be able to pass him, signed a team-friendly, two-year extension with a cap hit of $12.5 million, his current amount.
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The 2026 free-agent class is star-studded, and includes Connor McDavid (current $12.5 million cap hit) and Jack Eichel ($10 million).
(This story has been updated with new information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is highest-paid NHL player? Salaries of hockey stars, ranked
