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.
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. The salary cap is going up and McDavid, Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Vegas’ Jack Eichel are among the high-profile 2026 unrestricted free agents. Kaprizov reportedly turned down a record-setting eight-year offer.
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
- C Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, $14,000,000
- C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, $13,250,000
- C Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche, $12,600,000
- C Connor McDavid, Oilers, $12,500,000
- RW Mitch Marner, Golden Knights, $12,000,000
- RW Mikko Rantanen, Stars, $12,000,000
- LW Artemi Panarin, Rangers, $11,642,857
- C Elias Pettersson, Canucks, $11,600,000
- D Erik Karlsson, Penguins, $11,500,000
- C William Nylander, Maple Leafs, $11,500,000
- G Igor Shesterkin, Rangers, $11,500,000
- RW David Pastrnak, Bruins, $11,250,000
- D Drew Doughty, Kings, $11,000,000
- D Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres, $11,000,000
- D Evan Bouchard, Oilers, $10,500,000
- LW Jonathan Huberdeau, Flames, $10,500,000
- C Aleksander Barkov, Panthers, $10,000,000
- C Jack Eichel, Golden Knights, $10,000,000
- G Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers, $10,000,000
- C Tyler Seguin, Stars, $9,850,000
- C Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes, $9,750,000
- D Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets, $9,583,333
- LW Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, $9,500,000
- RW Mark Stone, Golden Knights, $9,500,000
- RW Nikita Kucherov, Lightning, $9,500,000
- D Seth Jones, Panthers, $9,500,000
- C Brayden Point, Lightning, $9,500,000
- LW Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers, $9,500,000
- D Charlie McAvoy, Bruins, $9,500,000
- D Adam Fox, Rangers, $9,500,000
- D Noah Dobson, Canadiens, $9,500,000
- G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, $9,500,000
- D Darnell Nurse, Oilers, $9,250,000
- C Mathew Barzal, Islanders, $9,150,000
- D Roman Josi, Predators, $9,059,000
- D Dougie Hamilton, Devils, $9,000,000
- LW Jake Guentzel, Lightning, $9,000,000
- LW Kirill Kaprizov, Wild, $9,000,000
- D Jakob Chychrun, Capitals, $9,000,000
- D Cale Makar, Avalanche, $9,000,000
- D Alex Pietrangelo, Golden Knights, $8,800,000 (currently injured)
- RW Timo Meier, Devils, $8,800,000
- RW Travis Konecny, Flyers, $8,750,000
- C Sidney Crosby, Penguins, $8,700,000
- C Dylan Larkin, Red Wings, $8,700,000
- LW Patrik Laine, Canadiens, $8,700,000
- C Sam Reinhart, Panthers, $8,625,000
- D Moritz Seider, Red Wings, $8,550,000
- D Brock Faber, Wild, $8,500,000
- C Mika Zibanejad, Rangers, $8,500,000
- C Mark Scheifele, Jets, $8,500,000
- C Filip Forsberg, Predators, $8,500,000
- C Bo Horvat, Islanders, $8,500,000
- LW Nikolaj Ehlers, Hurricanes, $8,500,000
- D Ivan Provorov, Blue Jackets, $8,500,000
- C Pierre-Luc Dubois, Capitals, $8,500,000
- D Mikhail Sergachev, Mammoth, $8,500,000
- G Connor Hellebuyck, Jets, $8,500,000
Highest-paid NHL players by salary
Top 30 plus ties
- C Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, $16,500,000
- C Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche, $16,050,000
- G Igor Shesterkin, Rangers, $15,825,000
- C Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, $15,200,000
- RW Mitch Marner, Golden Knights, $15,000,000
- RW Mikko Rantanen, Stars, $15,000,000
- C Elias Pettersson, Canucks, $14,500,000
- C William Nylander, Maple Leafs, $13,500,000
- RW David Pastrnak, Bruins, $12,500,000
- D Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres, $12,000,000
- D Evan Bouchard, Oilers, $12,000,000
- C Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes, $12,000,000
- C Brayden Point, Lightning, $12,000,000
- D Noah Dobson, Canadiens, $12,000,000
- C Aleksander Barkov, Panthers, $11,600,000
- D Dougie Hamilton, Devils, $11,550,000
- D Charlie McAvoy, Bruins, $11,500,000
- C Pierre-Luc Dubois, Capitals, $11,350,000
- LW Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers, $11,250,000
- D Mikhail Sergachev, Mammoth, $11,050,000
- D Drew Doughty, Kings, $11,000,000
- D Jakob Chychrun, Capitals, $11,000,000
- RW Travis Konecny, Flyers, $11,000,000
- D Miro Heiskanen, Stars, $11,000,000
- C Seth Jarvis, Hurricanes, $10,950,000
- RW Timo Meier, Devils, $10,750,000
- LW Jonathan Huberdeau, Flames, $10,500,000
- D Seth Jones, Panthers, $10,500,000
- L Brady Tkachuk, Senators, $10,500,000
- C Jordan Kyrou, Blues, $10,500,000
- C Robert Thomas, Blues, $10,500,000
Highest-paid NHL defensemen by cap hit
- Erik Karlsson, Penguins, $11,500,000
- Drew Doughty, Kings, $11,000,000
- Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres, $11,000,000
- Evan Bouchard, Oilers, $10,500,000
- Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets, $9,583,333
- Seth Jones, Panthers, $9,500,000
- Charlie McAvoy, Bruins, $9,500,000
- Adam Fox, Rangers, $9,500,000
- Noah Dobson, Canadiens, $9,500,000
- Darnell Nurse, Oilers, $9,250,000
- Roman Josi, Predators, $9,059,000
- Dougie Hamilton, Devils, $9,000,000
- Jakob Chychrun, Capitals, $9,000,000
- Cale Makar, Avalanche, $9,000,000
- Alex Pietrangelo, Golden Knights, $8,800,000 (currently injured)
- Moritz Seider, Red Wings, $8,550,000
- Ivan Provorov, Blue Jackets, $8,500,000
- Mikhail Sergachev, Mammoth, $8,500,000
- Brock Faber, Wild, $8,500,000
- Miro Heiskanen, Stars, $8,450,000
- Owen Power, Sabres, $8,350,000
- Jake Sanderson, Senators, $8,050,000
- John Carlson, Capitals, $8,000,000
- Victor Hedman, Lightning, $8,000,000
- Jacob Trouba, Ducks, $8,000,000
- Thomas Chabot, Senators, $8,000,000
- Quinn Hughes, Canucks, $7,850,000
- Jared Spurgeon, Wild, $7,575,000
- Morgan Rielly, Maple Leafs, $7,500,000
- K’Andre Miller, Hurricanes, $7,500,000
Highest-paid NHL goaltenders by cap hit
- Igor Shesterkin, Rangers, $11,500,000
- Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers, $10,000,000
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, $9,500,000
- Connor Hellebuyck, Jets, $8,500,000
- Jeremy Swayman, Bruins, $8,250,000
- Jake Oettinger, Stars, $8,250,000
- Ilya Sorokin, Islanders, $8,250,000
- Linus Ullmark, Senators, $8,250,000
- Juuse Saros, Predators, $7,740,000
- Lukas Dostal, Ducks, $6,500,000
- John Gibson, Red Wings, $6,400,000
- Adin Hill, Golden Knights, $6,250,000
- Jacob Markstrom, Devils, $6,000,000
- Jordan Binnington, Blues, $6,000,000
- Philipp Grubauer, Kraken, $5,900,000
- Logan Thompson, Capitals, $5,850,000
- Elvis Merzlikins, Blue Jackets, $5,400,000
- Tristan Jarry, Penguins, $5,375,000
- MacKenzie Blackwood, Avalanche, $5,250,000
- Darcy Kuemper, Kings, $5,250,000
- Joey Daccord, Kraken, $5,000,000
- Thatcher Demko, Canucks, $5,000,000
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Sabres, $4,750,000
- Karel Vejmelka, Mammoth, $4,750,000
- Kevin Lankinen, Canucks, $4,500,000
- Spencer Knight, Blackhawks, $4,500,000
- Petr Mrazek, Ducks, $4,250,000
- Joonas Korpisalo, Bruins, $4,000,000
- Filip Gustavsson, Wild, $3,750,000
- Joseph Woll, Maple Leafs, $3,666,667
Who could pass Leon Draisaitl as top-paid player?
The 2026 free-agent class is star-studded, and includes Connor McDavid (current $12.5 million cap hit), Jack Eichel ($10 million) and Kirill Kaprizov ($9 million).
All are eligible to sign extensions before they become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
The reported offer to Kaprizov was eight years with an average annual value of $16 million. That would give him the top cap hit, and the $128 million total would set a record for largest NHL contract, passing the 13-year, $124 million contract that Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin signed in 2008.
In the end, McDavid should re-establish himself as the NHL’s top-paid player. He is a three-time MVP who has taken his team to the Stanley Cup Final the last two seasons.