NHL Highest Paid Players 2017: Penguins’ Sidney Crosby And Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane Top List Of NHL Stars
When it comes to the NHL highest paid players 2017 list, two players from the same team are ranked in the top three. The Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are two of the highest paid players in the league with a combined total earnings of over $30 million. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby is sandwiched in between the two stars as second in terms of total earnings. Crosby has earned a bit under $16 million, with a quarter of that coming via endorsement deals. The Penguins star’s popularity has continued to surge as he’s achieved three Stanley Cup titles in his career thus far.
After holding the top paid spot for eight straight years, Crosby has fallen out of the spot since last year. According to Forbes‘ Kurt Badenhausen, Chicago’s Jonathan Toews sits atop the overall list of highest paid NHL stars with earnings of $16 million. The bulk of that comes from his $13.8 million salary, while the rest comes from his various endorsement deals. Teammate Patrick Kane ranks third on the list with total earnings of $14.8 million, with all but a million dollars of that coming from his salary. It was noted that he had the league’s second best-selling jersey last season. He’s also the only player of the top three that was born in the United States.
Rounding out the top-five highest paid players in the NHL this season are the Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin and a tie between Anze Kopitar and Jamie Benn for the fifth spot. Ovechkin has total earnings of $14.5 million, with $4.5 million from endorsements, while both Kopitar and Benn had $13.1 million in total earnings apiece.
Top 10 Highest Paid NHL Players of 2017-18
- Jonathan Toews $16 million
- Sidney Crosby $15.7 million
- Patrick Kane $14.8 million
- Alexander Ovechkin $14.5 million
- Anze Kopitar (tie) $13.1 million
- Jamie Benn (tie) $13.1 million
- P.K. Subban $12.5 million
- Shea Weber $12.1 million
- Steven Stamkos $11 million
- Corey Perry $10.2 million
Of the NHL players mentioned above, those in the top three have a combined six NHL championships between them. A few players below them would love to start racking up the trophies with their teams, though. Right now, Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning are considered at the top of the NHL power rankings, with P.K. Subban and the Nashville Predators hoping to make a return to the Stanley Cup Finals and win it this time.
It’s also noted that there’s another player ready to surge into the top 10 list for next season. The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid signed a lucrative extension worth $100 million this past summer. However, that doesn’t kick in for his overall earnings until next year, so expect the Oilers center to make it onto the top 10 NHL highest paid players list then.
