7 NHL players who will make more money than McDavid next season
It’s not controversial to say that Connor McDavid is the best player in the NHL right now.
The 29-year-old Edmonton Oilers captain is coming off another dominant season where he led the league in scoring with 138 points and captured his fifth Ted Lindsay Award. There is nobody who impacts the game quite as much as McDavid does, and you would expect a player of his stature to also be the highest paid in the NHL, but that isn’t the case.
Actually, it’s not even close. McDavid opted to sign a bargain two-year contract extension with the Oilers last October that carries a cap hit of $12.5 million. That’s the exact same cap hit that his previous eight-year contract had between the 2018-19 and 2025-26 seasons.
That new contract is set to kick in for the upcoming 2026-27 NHL season and run through the 2027-28 campaign.
It was a testament to how much McDavid not only wants to win, but also wants to win specifically with the Oilers. He absolutely left money on the table and could have easily demanded a record-breaking contract.
This will result in McDavid having seven players around the league, including an Oilers teammate, making more money than him next season.
Who are those players? Let’s take a look at each one…
Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks
John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images
2026-27 cap hit: $18 million
Signing date: July 2026
Not a lot of people expected Leo Carlsson to become the NHL’s highest-paid player this summer, but an offer-sheet fiasco with the Philadelphia Flyers did just that.
The 21-year-old will have a lot to live up to after the Anaheim Ducks opted to match the offer sheet.
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild
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2026-27 cap hit:Ā $17 million
Signing date: September 2025
Kirill Kaprizov is one of the NHL’s most electric players, and the Minnesota Wild paid to stay put this past season.
The Russian sniper held the title as the league’s highest-paid player up until Carlsson signed his offer sheet.
Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
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2026-27 cap hit:Ā $15 million
Signing date: July 2026
There were whispers that Connor Bedard may have been susceptible to an offer sheet this summer, but the Chicago Blackhawks paid up to avoid that.
Bedard is coming off a few underwhelming seasons after tremendous hype going into his draft year. That doesn’t seem to have stopped him from making superstar money on his first contract after his entry-level deal.
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Kim Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images
2026-27 cap hit:Ā $14 million
Signing date: September 2024
Leon Draisaitl earned every bit of his current contract and was the league’s highest-paid player when he signed it.
One could argue that Draisaitl also left money on the table here, and nobody in Edmonton is complaining about the cap hit. Don’t think McDavid cares all too much that a guy like Draisaitl is making more than him.
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
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2026-27 cap hit: $13.5 million
Signing date: October 2025
Jack Eichel has long been connected to McDavid due to the Vegas Golden Knights forward going second overall after the Oilers captain.
McDavid may be the better player, but Eichel has a Stanley Cup and a larger cap hit.
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
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2026-27 cap hit: $13.25 million
Signing date: August 2023
The angst about Auston Matthews’ future with the Toronto Maple Leafs has already begun.
There was some uproar when Matthews inked only a four-year deal with Toronto back in 2023. He’s had a few amazing years with this contract but is coming off a disappointing season in Leafsland.
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
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2026-27 cap hit: $12.604 million
Signing date: September 2022
The rivalry between McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon has been legendary, and it seems to extend all the way down to the cap hits.
It feels like MacKinnon wanted to make a point of getting a slightly higher cap hit than McDavid back in 2022, and he’s certainly earned every bit of that contract so far.