Since the NHL salary cap was introduced in 2005, clubs have kept a close eye on two key player payroll markers - cap hit and salary. Cap hit corresponds to the dollar amount applied towards team salary cap whereas salary connotes a player's actual take home pay.
The chart below presents 2019-2020 NHL player cap hit and salary figures for the top ten players in each position per Cap Friendly.
2019-2020 NHL Player Cap Hit By Position
Forward
$m
Defense
$m
Goalie
$m
McDavid
12.5
Karlsson
11.5
Price
10.5
Panarin
11.6
Doughty
11
Bobrovsky
10
Matthews
11.6
Subban
9
Lundqvist
8.5
Tavares
11
Ekman-Larsson
8.2
Fleury
7
Marner
10.8
Burns
8
Rask
7
Toews
10.5
Carlson
8
Gibson
6.4
Kane
10.5
Trouba
8
Hellebuyck
6.1
Kopitar
10
Hedman
7.8
Holtby
6.1
Eichel
10
Weber
7.8
Crawford
6
Seguin
9.8
Byfuglien
7.6
Schneider
6
2019-2020 NHL Player Salary By Position
Forward
$m
Defense
$m
Goalie
$m
Marner
16
Karlsson
14.5
Price
15
Tavares
15.9
Doughty
12
Bobrovsky
11.5
Matthews
15.9
Carlson
12
Fleury
8.5
McDavid
15
Trouba
12
Quick
7
Panarin
14
Burns
10
Lundqvist
7
Seguin
13.5
Subban
10
Jones
6.7
Benn
13
Suter
9
Rask
6.5
Aho
12
Ekblad
9
Gibson
6.4
Kucherov
12
Schmidt
8.8
Rinne
6
Rantanen
12
McDonagh
8.4
Varlamov
6
Stone
12
Hellebuyck
6
Schneider
6
The 2005 CBA permitted a player's cap hit and salary figure to diverge dramatically in the same season and over the course of a multi-year contract. Thus, despite Marner ($16m) being paid the most this season, it's actually McDavid ($12.5m), who costs the most consuming more of his team's $81.5m cap limit than any other player. The 2013 CBA limits this cap-circumvention loophole providing that no multi-year contract can fluctuate more than 35% year-to-year on salary amounts and 50% from the lowest salary year to the highest salary year.
Another interesting facet of modern player contracts are signing bonus payments (as opposed to performance bonus payments). The genius of structuring player compensation as a bonus is that the earnings are not subject to escrow withholdings and are payable during lockouts.
When a player retires their cap hit does not typically count against the team's cap limit. Two notable exceptions to this rule include: (1) all remaining years of any contract signed by players 35 years of age or older continue to count against a team's cap after retirement; and (2) if a player retires and the salary on any remaining years is less than the cap hit of those remaining years, the difference is recouped and charged to the team's cap for those remaining years. A list of all current 35+ contracts may be found here.
As for injuries, teams must still pay a player's salary while injured but the cap hit does not count against the club (LTIR & SOIR).
A listing of the highest paid players in the NHL since 1989-1990, along with the teams responsible for cutting their checks, can be found here.
* See also NHL Highest Paid Players By Year.
* See also Rethinking NHL Player Salary Structure.
* See also NHL Minimum Wage & Maximum Wage By Year.
Friday, October 4, 2019
NHL Highest Player Salary & Cap Hit By Position
Monday, September 16, 2019
NHL Highest Paid Players By Year
NHL player salaries have seen fantastic fluctuations over the past two decades owing to aggressive player negotiations, reckless owner spending, and the introduction of the NHL salary cap in 2005.
The chart below shows the highest paid players in the NHL in terms of annual salary since 1989-1990 and the team responsible for payment.
| Year | Salary | Player |
| 1989-1990 | $2,000,000 | Lemieux (PIT) |
| 1990-1991 | $3,000,000 | Gretzky (LAK) |
| 1991-1992 | $3,000,000 | Gretzky (LAK) |
| 1992-1993 | $3,500,000 | Lindros (PHI) |
| 1993-1994 | $3,350,000 | Lindros (PHI) |
| 1994-1995 | $3,660,000 | Gretzky (LAK) |
| 1995-1996 | $6,540,000 | Gretzky (LAK, STL) |
| 1996-1997 | $11,350,000 | Lemieux (PIT) |
| 1997-1998 | $16,450,000 | Sakic (COL) |
| 1998-1999 | $14,500,000 | Fedorov (DET) |
| 1999-2000 | $17,400,000 | Jagr (PIT) |
| 2000-2001 | $10,000,000 | Forsberg (COL), Kariya (ANA) |
| 2001-2002 | $11,000,000 | Jagr (WAS) |
| 2002-2003 | $11,480,000 | Jagr (WAS) |
| 2003-2004 | $11,000,000 | Forsberg (COL), Jagr (WAS) |
| 2005-2006 | $8,360,000 | Jagr (NYR) |
| 2006-2007 | $8,360,000 | Jagr (NYR) |
| 2007-2008 | $10,000,000 | Briere (PHI), Gomez (NYR), Vanek (BUF) |
| 2008-2009 | $10,000,000 | Heatley (OTT) |
| 2009-2010 | $10,000,000 | Lecavalier (TBL) |
| 2010-2011 | $10,000,000 | Lecavalier (TBL), Luongo (VAN) |
| 2011-2012 | $12,000,000 | B. Richards (NYR) |
| 2012-2013 | $14,000,000 | Weber (NAS) |
| 2013-2014 | $14,000,000 | Weber (NAS) |
| 2014-2015 | $14,000,000 | Weber (NAS) |
| 2015-2016 | $14,000,000 | Weber (NAS) |
| 2016-2017 | $14,000,000 | Kopitar (LAK) |
| 2017-2018 | $13,800,000 | Kane (CHI), Toews (CHI) |
| 2018-2019 | $15,900,000 | Tavares (TOR) |
| 2019-2020 | $16,000,000 | Marner (TOR) |
Six times during this span Jagr led all players in pay (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) with Gretzky (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996) and Weber tied for second place with four such salary titles (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). Only five times since 1990 has a goaltender (Luongo 2011) or a defenseman (Weber 2013-2016) led the league in pay.
In terms of accomplishments, three times during this span the NHL salary king has captured the Art Ross finishing with the most regular season points (Gretzky 1991, Lemieux 1997, Jagr 2000) yet only once has one hoisted the Stanley Cup (Forsberg 2001) in his highest paid year.
As for MVP honors, hockey writers and GMs have never recognized a top earner for regular season (Hart, Norris, Vezina) or playoff (Conn Smythe) performance during this period, though the players twice picked Jagr (2000, 2006) as such (Lindsay) during his six season pay day heyday.
Of course, since the salary cap was introduced in 2005, the key figure in terms of a player's cost to a team is his cap hit figure as opposed to his annual salary. A list of the top player salary and cap hit figures by position for the 2019-20 NHL season can be found here.
* See also NHL Highest Player Salary & Cap Hit By Position.
* See also NHL Minimum Wage & Maximum Wage By Year.
* See also Rethinking NHL Player Salary Structure.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
2019 NHL Individual Awards Winners
| NHL Award | Winner |
| Conn Smythe Trophy | Ryan O'Reilly |
| Art Ross Trophy | Nikita Kucherov |
| Maurice Richard Trophy | Alex Ovechkin |
| Hart Trophy | Nikita Kucherov |
| Ted Lindsay Award | Nikita Kucherov |
| Selke Trophy | Ryan O'Reilly |
| Norris Trophy | Mark Giordano |
| Vezina Trophy | Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Jennings Trophy | Robin Lehner/Thomas Greiss |
| Calder Trophy | Elias Pettersson |
| Jack Adams Award | Barry Trotz |
| GM of the Year | Don Sweeney |
| Bill Masterton Trophy | Robin Lehner |
| Lady Byng Trophy | Aleksander Barkov |
| King Clancy Trophy | Jason Zucker |
| Messier Award | Wayne Simmonds |
2019 NHL First All-Star Team honors went to Vasilevskiy (G), Burns (D), Giordano (D), McDavid (C), Kucherov (RW) and Ovechkin (LW). The 2019 NHL Second All-Star Team roster was Bishop (G), Carlson (D), Hedman (D), Crosby (C), Kane (RW) and Marchand (LW).
The 2019 NHL All-Rookie Team was comprised of newcomers Jordan Binnington (G), Rasmus Dahlin (D), Miro Heiskanen (D), Anthony Cirelli (F), Elias Pettersson (F) and Brady Tkachuk (F).
* See also 2018 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2017 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2016 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2015 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2014 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2013 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2012 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2011 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2010 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
* See also 2009 NHL Individual Awards Winners.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines
The videos below capture the final moments of play in each series-ending game to date in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs along with the ensuing traditional team handshake line, sorted by round and series end date.
FIRST ROUND
The Blue Jackets eliminated the Lightning in Game 4 on April 16, 2019.
The Islanders eliminated the Penguins in Game 4 on April 16, 2019.
The Avalanche eliminated the Flames in Game 5 on April 19, 2019.
The Blues eliminated the Jets in Game 6 on April 20, 2019.
The Stars eliminated the Predators in Game 6 on April 22, 2019.
The Bruins eliminated the Leafs in Game 7 on April 23, 2019.
The Sharks eliminated the Golden Knights in Game 7 on April 23, 2019.
The Hurricanes eliminated the Capitals in Game 7 on April 24, 2019.
SECOND ROUND
The Hurricanes eliminated the Islanders in Game 4 on May 3, 2019.
The Bruins eliminated the Blue Jackets in Game 6 on May 6, 2019.
The Blues eliminated the Stars in Game 7 on May 7, 2019.
The Sharks eliminated the Avalanche in Game 7 on May 8, 2019.
THIRD ROUND
The Bruins eliminated the Hurricanes in Game 4 on May 16, 2019.
The Blues eliminated the Sharks in Game 6 on May 21, 2019.
STANLEY CUP FINAL
The Blues eliminated the Bruins in Game 7 on June 12, 2019.
In an age of results reigning over respect, it's encouraging to see such sportsmanship in professional sport, albeit with notable exceptions (Milan Lucic 2014), abstention (Martin Brodeur 2008, Derek Boogaard 2007, Chris Chelios 2007, Darren McCarty 1997, Ed Belfour 1995, Billy Smith, Gerry Cheevers) and disdain (Dino Ciccarelli 1996) in recent years.
* See also 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
* See also 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
* See also 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
* See also 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
* See also 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
* See also 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines.
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