Forbes releases NHL's highest paid stars for 2021
As we all know, professional athletes are paid handsomely, NHL players included. Cap hits don't always tell the full stories either. The Average Annual Value shows the average that each player makes per season over the life of their contract. It also doesn't include endorsement deals. Forbes recently put out a list that showed the highest paid NHL stars and how much they will make for the 2021-22 season based on their actual salaries as well as endorsements.
Topping the list is Edmonton Oilers star forward Connor McDavid, who will bring in a whopping $16.1 million. Next up was Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews at $12.2 million. From spots three through 10 on the list were Erik Karlsson ($12 million), Carey Price ($11.8 million), Mitch Marner ($11.6 million), Artemi Panarin ($11.2 million), Tyler Seguin ($11 million), Sidney Crosby ($10.5 million), Nikita Kucherov ($10.3 million), and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million).
The order of this list isn't a major surprise, given that all of the names above are star players and have some of the highest cap hits in the league. Still, it is interesting to see what they're making when side deals are added in. For the record, as Forbes puts it: "the NHL's ten highest-paid players are set to collect $117 million, a pittance compared with the top-ten totals in the NBA ($714 million), the NFL ($418 million) and even Major League Baseball ($357 million). "
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||