List of player salaries in the NHL

Here are several lists of National Hockey League players' salaries since the 1989–90 NHL season. This list does not include income from corporate endorsements or salaries before.

Top 20 salaries in the NHL since 1989
This is a list of the twenty NHL players who have earned the most in salaries between the 1989–90 season and the 2007–08 season.

These figures have been shot from different angles, and so may not be perfectly accurate. This is merely an estimation that, for the most part, does not take into account bonuses and sponsor contracts.

These totals also do not take into account partial seasons played—for which a player would only receive a partial salary—except for the shortened 2004–05 season, which affected every player. Thus, the listed totals are a sum of the amounts each player was contracted to receive for a full season.


 * † "Years active" excludes the 2004–05 NHL season, as the league was not operating that year. It also includes seasons prior to the 1989–90 NHL season, although the salaries paid during this time may not be included in the total due to scarcity of information.
 * a Peter Forsberg missed the 2001–02 NHL season and almost all of the 2007–08 NHL season due to injury.
 * b Dominik Hasek did not play the 2002–03 NHL season because he had retired, though he returned the following season.

1989–90 season

 * 1) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2 million
 * 2) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $1.72 million
 * 3) Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) $0.86 million
 * 4) Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $0.7 million
 * 5) Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) $0.575 million

1990–91 season

 * 1) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
 * 2) Mario Lemieux ([[Pittsburgh Penguins]) $2.18 million
 * 3) Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $1.3 million
 * 4) Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins) $1.194 million
 * 5) Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) $1.116 million

1991–92 season

 * 1) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
 * 2) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.34 million
 * 3) Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) $1.5 million
 * 4) Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $1.4 million
 * Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $1.4 million

1992–93 season

 * 1) Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $3.5 million
 * 2) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
 * 3) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.408 million
 * 4) Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $2.385 million
 * 5) Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $1.775 million

1993–94 season

 * 1) Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $3.35 million
 * 2) Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $3.2 million
 * 3) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $3 million
 * Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
 * 1) Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens) $2.659,3 million

1994–95 season
After the 1994–95 NHL season was shortened to 48 games due to a lockout, players earned only about 56% of their predicted salary.
 * 1) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3.66 million (Predicted salary of $6.54 million)
 * 2) Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $3.45 million (Predicted salary of $6.29 million)
 * 3) Scott Stevens (New Jersey Devils) $3.24 million (Predicted salary of $5.8 million)
 * 4) Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $2.61 million (Predicted salary of $4.5 million)
 * 5) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.361,429 million (Predicted salary of $4.071,429 million)

1995–96 season

 * 1) Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings/St. Louis Blues) $6.54 million
 * 2) Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6.29 million
 * 3) Keith Tkachuk (Winnipeg Jets) $6 million
 * 4) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $4.571,4 million
 * 5) Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $4.5 million

1996–97 season

 * 1) Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $11.35 million
 * 2) Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6 million
 * 3) Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $5 million
 * 4) Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $4.6 million
 * 5) Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens) $4.567 million

1997–98 season

 * 1) Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) $16.45 million
 * 2) Chris Gratton (Philadelphia Flyers) $10.15 million
 * 3) Wayne Gretzky (New York Rangers) $6.250,500 million
 * 4) Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6 million
 * 5) Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $5.5 million

1998–99 season

 * 1) Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) $14.5 million
 * 2) Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $8.25 million
 * 3) Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $8 million
 * Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres) $8 million
 * 1) Mats Sundin (Toronto Maple Leafs) $6.347 million

1999–00 season

 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) $11.7 million
 * 2) Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $10 million
 * 3) Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $9 million
 * 4) Theoren Fleury (New York Rangers) $8.5 million
 * Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $8.5 million

2000–01 season

 * 1) Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $10 million
 * Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $10 million
 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9.842,708 million
 * 2) Pavel Bure (Florida Panthers) $9 million
 * 3) Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $7.3 million

2001–02 season

 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11 million
 * 2) Pavel Bure (Florida Panthers/New York Rangers) $10 million
 * Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $10 million
 * 1) Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) $9.832,727 million
 * 2) Chris Pronger (St. Louis Blues) $9.5 million
 * Teemu Selanne (San Jose Sharks) $9.5 million

2002–03 season

 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11.483,333 million
 * 2) Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $11 million
 * 3) Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $10.5 million
 * 4) Pavel Bure (New York Rangers) $10 million
 * Paul Kariya (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) $10 million

2003–04 season

 * 1) Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $11 million
 * Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11 million
 * 1) Sergei Fedorov (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) $10 million
 * Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $10 million
 * Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $10 million

2004–05 season
Season cancelled (see 2004–05 NHL lockout).

2005–06 season
The team salary cap is $39 million. Under the latest NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, no player can earn more than 20 percent of the team salary cap ($7.8 million).


 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million
 * 2) Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $7.6 million
 * Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $7.6 million
 * Alexei Yashin (New York Islanders) $7.6 million
 * 1) Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) $7 million

2006–07 season
The team salary cap is $44 million. No player can earn more than $8.8 million.


 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million
 * 2) Brad Richards (Tampa Bay Lightning) $7.8 million
 * 3) Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $7.6 million
 * Mats Sundin (Toronto Maple Leafs) $7.6 million
 * Alexei Yashin (New York Islanders) $7.6 million

2007–08 season
The team salary cap is $50.3 million. No player can earn more than $10.06 million.


 * 1) Daniel Briere (Philadelphia Flyers) $10 million
 * Scott Gomez (New York Rangers) $10 million
 * Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres) $10 million
 * 1) Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million
 * 2) Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers) $8 million

2008–09 season
The team salary cap is $56.7 million. No player can earn more than $11.34 million.
 * 1) Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators) $500 million
 * 2) Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million
 * Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) $9 million
 * 1) Mats Sundin (Vancouver Canucks) $8.6 million
 * 2) Miikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames) $8.5 million

2009–10 season
The team salary cap is $56.8 million. No player can earn more than $11.36 million.
 * 1) Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) $10 million
 * 2) Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9million
 * Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million
 * Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) $9 million
 * 1) Chris Drury (New York Rangers) $8.05 million

Sample salaries from earlier seasons
Salary figures prior to the 1989–90 season are not readily available. The following table presents a sample of salaries from various seasons; the players listed were not necessarily the highest paid that year.


 * † Bobby Hull was playing the World Hockey Association at this time, a short-lived rival to the NHL.