The NHL’s Highest-Paid Players 2026

For six years, the NHL's salary cap barely budged, inching up from $79.5 million in the 2018-19 season to $83.5 million for 2023-24. But with the financial aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic finally subsiding, and explosive sponsorship growth supercharging the league's revenue, the cap has jumped to $104 million this season, unlocking gobs of new money for general managers across the NHL—and they have happily put it to work.

Of the largest contracts in the NHL's salary-cap era, which dates back 21 years, 14 of the top 18 deals in terms of average annual value were signed in either 2025 or 2026. The most recent flood was unleashed in July when the Philadelphia Flyers signed restricted-free-agent center Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet, which the Anaheim Ducks matched days later to retain him.