Oilers captain McDavid will be surpassed as NHL's highest-paid player
Connor McDavid is hockey’s highest-paid player.Ā
For the next 365 days or so.Ā
Nathan MacKinnon, who helped the Colorado Avalanche to a sweep of the Edmonton Oilers before winning the Stanley Cup in June, has inked a massive eight-year, $100.8 million contract extension that clocks in at hockey’s newest highest annual payout.Ā
It surpasses the eight-year, $100 million contract McDavid signed on July 5, 2017.Ā
Nathan MacKinnon, eight year extension with the Avalanche, $12.6 million AAV making him highest-paid player in the NHL
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 20, 2022
McDavid is eligible to top that at the end of the 2025-26 season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.Ā
MacKinnon’s deal, which kicks in at the start of the 2023-24 season, is the fourth-highest in the cap era.Ā
Sidney Crosby, who attended MacKinnon’s day with the Cup, is playing out a 12-year, $104.4 million contract. Shea Weber signed a 14-year, $110 million deal with the Nashville Predators in 2012. Alex Ovechkin’s current 13-year, $124 million tops each.Ā
The Collective Bargaining Agreement now puts a term limit of eight years for players re-signing with their own team and seven for free agents.
MacKinnon, who has been a Hart Trophy finalist in three of the past five seasons, has 648 points (242 goals, 406 assists) in 638 career NHL games — all with Colorado.Ā
McDavid, who has 697 points (239 goals, 458 assists) in 487 games over seven seasons, has Hart wins in 2021 and 2017, Art Ross Trophy wins in 2021, 2018, and 2017, Lindsay Awards in 2021, 2018, and 2017, and NHL First All-Star Team nods in 2021, 2019, 2018, and 2017.
He was also named Best NHL Player at the 2022 ESPSYs in August.
The Oilers captain leads the NHL in scoring since joining the league in 2015. MacKinnon is seventh.
MacKinnon’s Avalanche bested McDavid’s Oilers in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, sweeping Edmonton in four games in the Western Conference Final before beating the Tampa Bay Lightning to earn their third championship in franchise history.