The NHL’s Highest-Paid Players 2021: Matthews, McDavid And Marner Score Despite League-Wide Pay Cuts

Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is the top earner in the NHL for the shortened 2021 season.

Getty Images

The National Hockey League kicked off its shortened 56-game season last week with limited fans in only three arenas. Fan-less games wreak havoc on team finances in the NHL because it lacks the blockbuster TV contracts common in the other three major U.S. sports leagues—more than 70% of NHL revenue is derived from arenas via tickets, concessions, sponsorships and parking.

NHL players will also feel the financial sting. They agreed to defer 10% of their total compensation, to be paid back in equal installments over three years starting in 2024. The bigger blow is the NHL’s escrow system, an account where 20% of salaries are parked to ensure a 50-50 revenue split between teams and players, per the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement. Players won’t ever see that escrow money again, with the NHL’s revenue plunge.

The NHL’s top-earning player for the 2020-21 season is Auston Matthews. The Toronto Maple Leafs center was scheduled to make $15.9 million in playing salary and bonus but will instead earn $13 million net of escrow and including deferrals (a bulk of the escrow payment will be deducted from his July 2021 bonus). Matthews’ off-ice income in 2021 from endorsements, memorabilia and licensing is an estimated $3 million, pushing his total income to $16 million.

The athlete endorsement market has gone into a deep freeze during the coronavirus pandemic, but Matthews added new deals last year with Verizon and equipment giant CCM Hockey. They join ongoing partners Nike, Scotiabank and sleep aid Dream Water.

Matthews offers a compelling package for marketers. He was on pace to break the Maple Leafs’ single-season goals record before the 2019-20 season was paused in March. He is a young, fashion-forward Mexican American playing in the hockey capital of the world.

Matthews spent part of his off-season training with fellow star center Connor McDavid, who ranks as the NHL’s second-highest-paid player with $15.2 million (both are clients of sports agency Wasserman). The 2017 NHL MVP has one of the sport’s top endorsement portfolios, generating an estimated $4.5 million from partners CCM, Adidas, CIBC, BioSteel and more. McDavid’s No. 97 Edmonton Oilers jersey was the NHL’s second-best seller behind Sidney Crosby’s sweater in 2020.

Rounding out the top five are Mitch Marner ($15 million), Alexander Ovechkin ($13.2 million) and Crosby ($11.9 million). Ovechkin and Crosby are two of the most marketable players in the sport but are at the tail end of long-term contracts, with lower on-ice salaries compared with Matthews, McDavid and Marner.

The ten highest-paid players are expected to make $125 million overall in 2021, including $23 million off the ice.

The NHL’s Top-Earning Players 2020-21 1. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $16 million

Salary*: $13 million

Endorsements: $3 million

The 23-year-old was one of the lead investors last fall in a $3.5 million funding round for Swedish hockey company Marsblade, whose main product is a rollerblade. Former NHLers Nicklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg also invested.

*Salary includes signing bonuses and deferred money but is net of escrow payments.

2. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Getty Images

Total Earnings: $15.2 million

Salary: $10.7 million

Endorsements: $4.5 million

The Oilers captain led the NHL in points in both his second and third years in the league. He is in the third year of an eight-year, $100 million contract extension he signed with the team in 2017.

3. Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

Getty Images

Total Earnings: $15 million

Salary: $12.3 million

Endorsements: $2.7 million

Marner has a deep roster of endorsement partners with CIBC, Land Rover, Red Bull, Amazon Canada and Intact Insurance—most have ties to his charity, Marner Assist Fund. In July, he joined the ownership group of OverActive Media, which has esports franchises in the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League.

4. Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

NHLI via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $13.2 million

Salary: $8.2 million

Endorsements: $5 million

Ovi is in the final year of the historic 13-year, $124 million contract extension he signed in 2008; it was the NHL’s first $100 million deal and is still the richest ever. He’s been a bargain for the Caps, leading the NHL in scoring nine times. The 2018 Stanley Cup raised his marketing profile even higher. He is the top earner off the ice, by Forbes’ count.

5. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

NHLI via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $12.4 million

Salary: $7.9 million

Endorsements: $4.5 million

Sid the Kid has longstanding partnerships with CCM, Adidas, Tim Hortons and Gatorade. The two-time MVP is owed $9 million from the Penguins next season, before his salary dips to $3 million annually in the last three years of his 12-year, $104 million contract.

6. Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $11.2 million

Salary: $10.7 million

Endorsements: $500,000

Panarin shined in his first year in New York after signing a seven-year, $81.5 million deal in free agency. He tallied 95 points, third-most in the NHL. His 1.38 points per game were fourth-highest in Rangers history.

7. John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs

Getty Images

Total Earnings: $11 million

Salary: $9.8 million

Endorsements: $1.2 million

The Leafs named Tavares the 25th captain in team history just ahead of the 2019-20 season. Tavares launched his namesake foundation last year to prioritize wellness and inclusivity for kids through sports.

8. Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks

NHLI via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $10.4 million

Salary: $9.8 million

Endorsements: $600,000

The Swede has twice won the Norris Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s top defenseman. Karlsson’s blue-chip partners include Apple, American Express, Rogers Communications and Warriors Sports.

9. Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals

Getty Images

Total Earnings: $10.3 million

Salary: $9.8 million

Endorsements: $500,000

The Capitals locked up their veteran center in January 2020 with a five-year, $46 million contract extension. His 927 career points to start the 2021 season are the second-most in franchise history, behind only Ovechkin.

10. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

NHLI via Getty Images

Total Earnings: $10.1 million

Salary: $9.8 million

Endorsements: $250,000

Vasilevskiy signed an eight-year, $76 million extension in July 2019 after he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender. The deal ties him to Tampa Bay through the 2027-28 season. The Russian immediately rewarded the Bolts by backstopping the second Stanley Cup title run in franchise history in 2020.