After years of being the most underpaid player in the NHL, Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon has finally cashed in.
MacKinnon signed an eight-year, $100.8 million extension with the Avalanche on Tuesday, making him the highest paid player in the league in terms of average annual value ($12.6 million per season). The deal, which kicks in for the 2023-24 campaign, narrowly surpasses Connor McDavid’s eight-year, $100 million pact inked in 2017.
The only deals in NHL history worth more total money than MacKinnon’s are Alex Ovechkin’s $124 million, 13-year contract with Washington, Shea Weber’s $110 million, 14-year contract with Nashville and Sidney Crosby’s $104.4 million, 12-year contract with Pittsburgh.
MacKinnon’s extension represents a significant raise for the 2014 Calder Trophy winner, who carried an AAV of $6.3 million since signing a bargain seven-year, $44.1 million contract in the summer of 2016.
The 27-year-old has developed into one of the NHL’s best players in recent years and has been a finalist for the Hart Trophy in three of the past five seasons. He’s coming off a 32-goal, 88-point campaign that culminated in Colorado winning the Stanley Cup.
The Nova Scotia native deservedly joins a handful of players with a cap hit over $10 million. Here are the other NHLers pulling in eight-figure salaries.
Contract comparables (AAV):
$12,600,000: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
$12,500,000: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
$11,642,857: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
$11,640,250: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
$11,500,000: Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
$11,000,000: John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs
$11,000,000: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
$10,903,000: Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
$10,500,000: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
$10,500,000: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
$10,500,000: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
$10,000,000: Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
$10,000,000: Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
$10,000,000: Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
$10,000,000: Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers
Have your say:
After seeing where MacKinnon slots in among his peers, what do you think of his contract?
More from Yahoo Sports
