These are the highest-paid NHL hockey players in 2018-19

Aug 28 2018, 5:42 am

It pays to be an elite hockey player.

With the NHL salary cap at an all-time high, top players are making more money than ever before.

In 2018-19, the 10-highest paid players will earn $126.9 million cumulatively – an 8% increase from the $117.5 million that the top-10 took home in the season prior.

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Much of that increase will come from this year’s top three, as John Tavares, Carey Price and Connor McDavid all see lucrative deals kick in for the upcoming season.

Below is a list of the players who will make more than $8 million this year:

Player Salary Position Team
1. John Tavares $15.9 million C TOR
2. Carey Price $15 million G MTL
3. Connor McDavid $15 million C EDM
4. Jamie Benn $13 million LW DAL
5. Anze Kopitar $12 million C LAK
6. Patrick Kane $12 million RW CHI
7. Jonathan Toews $12 million C CHI
8. John Carlson $12 million D WSH
9. Sidney Crosby $10 million C PIT
10. Alex Ovechkin $10 million LW WSH
11. Evgeny Kuznetsov $10 million C WSH
12. Brent Burns $10 million D SJS
13. P.K. Subban $10 million D NSH
14. Jack Eichel $10 million C BUF
15. Evgeni Malkin $9.5 million C PIT
16. Steven Stamkos $9.5 million C TBL
17. Jakub Voracek $9.25 million RW PHI
18. Corey Perry $9 million RW ANA
19. Leon Draisaitl $9 million C EDM
20. Claude Giroux $9 million C PHI
21. Evander Kane $9 million LW SJS
22. Zach Parise $9 million LW MIN
23. Ryan Suter $9 million D MIN
24. Brent Seabrook $9 million D CHI
25. Ryan Getzlaf $8.95 million C ANA
26. Ilya Kovalchuk $8.5 million RW LAK
27. Ryan O’Reilly $8.5 million C STL
28. James van Riemsdyk $8 million LW PHI
29. Dustin Byfuglien $8 million D WPG
30. Victor Hedman $8 million D TBL
31. Ryan Johansen $8 million C NSH
32. Kevin Shattenkirk $8 million D NYR
33. Brad Marchand $8 million LW BOS
34. David Pastrnak $8 million RW BOS
35. Alexander Radulov $8 million RW DAL

Dallas Stars centre Tyler Seguin will join this list next season, as he signed an eight-year contract extension that carries a $9.85 million cap hit kicking in a year from now.

Annual salaries typically fluctuate year-over-year, while a player’s cap hit is based on the annual average value of a contract.

So while Tavares leads the way in total salary, his cap hit is lower than McDavid’s.

Here are the players that carry a cap hit in the same $8 million+ range:

Player Cap Hit Position Team
1. Connor McDavid $12,500,000 C EDM
2. John Tavares $11,000,000 C TOR
3. Patrick Kane $10,500,000 RW CHI
4. Jonathan Toews $10,500,000 C CHI
5. Carey Price $10,500,000 G MTL
6. Anze Kopitar $10,000,000 C LAK
7. Jack Eichel $10,000,000 C BUF
8. Alex Ovechkin $9,538,462 LW, RW WSH
9. Evgeni Malkin $9,500,000 C PIT
10. Jamie Benn $9,500,000 LW DAL
11. P.K. Subban $9,000,000 D NSH
12. Sidney Crosby $8,700,000 C PIT
13. Corey Perry $8,625,000 RW ANA
14. Steven Stamkos $8,500,000 C TBL
15. Leon Draisaitl $8,500,000 C EDM
16. Henrik Lundqvist $8,500,000 G NYR
17. Claude Giroux $8,275,000 C, RW PHI
18. Ryan Getzlaf $8,250,000 C ANA
19. Jakub Voracek $8,250,000 RW PHI
20. Phil Kessel $8,000,000 RW PIT
21. Ryan Johansen $8,000,000 C NSH
22. John Carlson $8,000,000 D WSH
23. Brent Burns $8,000,000 D, RW SJS

It’s interesting to note that while there are 35 players who will make $8 million or more next season, only 23 have a cap hit in that same range.

A big reason for this discrepancy are players’ preference to front-load contracts in anticipation of a potential lockout that could force a work stoppage as early as 2020.

Harman DayalHarman Dayal

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