The player with the highest annual salary in the National Hockey League in 2024 was Auston Matthews. The center for the Toronto Maple Leafs had a salary of 16.7 million U.S. dollars that season.

Auston Matthews was the highest paid player in the National Hockey League in the 2024/25 season. The Toronto Maple Leafs center earned **** million U.S. dollars in wages and a further **** million U.S. dollars through endorsements with the likes of Apple and Verizon.

American professional sports leagues are known for their high wages, and the National Hockey League is no different. In the 2019/20 season, the Minnesota Wild topped the table for average annual player salaries, giving each of its players an average of 3.32 million U.S. dollars. On the other end of the scale, players for the Toronto Maple Leafs took home an average of 1.54 million U.S. dollars during the season.

NHL minimum salary A minimum salary is in place in the National Hockey League to ensure that the players are fairly compensated for their endeavors. This minimum wage stood at 650 thousand U.S. dollars in 2019, a steady increase from the 500 thousand U.S. dollars minimum salary in place in 2011. Even though the LA Kings had the highest average salary in 2019, it was the Washington Capitals who topped the league for player expenses. The Capitals spent 85 million U.S. dollars on player expenses in 2018, whilst the Carolina Hurricanes spent the lowest in the league at 62 million U.S. dollars. The league-wide average payroll for the 2017/18 season stood at 75.35 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 25 million U.S. dollars on the figure from ten years before.

Highest paid players in the NHL The highest paid player in the NHL is the captain of the Edmonton Oilers and Canadian national team player, Connor McDavid. The 22-year old pocketed 19 million U.S. dollars in 2019, of which 15 million U.S. dollars came from his salary and a further four million was generated through endorsements. However, the honor of being the player who commands the highest salary in the league belongs to John Tavares - the Toronto Maple Leafs player had a yearly salary of 15.9 million U.S. dollars.

The minimum salary for players in the NHL amounted to *** thousand U.S. dollars in the 2023/24 season. The minimum salary for the league is agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is a basic contract between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association.

In the 2023/24 season, the National Hockey League franchise of the Toronto Maple Leafs had the highest player expenses within the league. The professional hockey team spent 108 million U.S. dollars on player salaries during that season.

Average salary data for major professional sports leagues worldwide

With each player taking home a handsome 8.32 million U.S. dollars every year, the NBA is the professional sports league with the highest player wages worldwide. In second place is the Indian Premier League, an annual cricket competition contested each year between eight franchises representing eight different Indian cities.

Big money in the NBA Although the wages that players in the NBA take home are astronomical, the average annual salaries vary from one team to another. Whilst the New York Knicks pay their players an average of 7.08 million U.S. dollars a year, Portland Trail Blazers spent around 10.04 million U.S. dollars annually on each of their stars in 2019/20. NBA salaries have tremendously increased throughout the years reaching 8.32 million U.S. dollars in 2019/20 compared to 4.6 million U.S. dollars in 2015/16.