Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid will net just a million bucks in salary this season.
Yes, you read that right.
A total of 15 players — 16 should the Oilers ink restricted free agent forward Ryan McLeod should come in with a base salary over the $1 million threshold — will net more cash over the course of the season than the NHL’s Art Ross Trophy winner last season.
That’s because McDavid has already made most of his cash by way of an $11 million signing bonus that’s already been paid out. In fact, $86 million of McDavid’s eight-year, $100 million contract is paid out in signing bonuses.
Leon Draisaitl, who finished fourth in NHL scoring, is in a similar boat. Draisaitl will earn $1 million after receiving a $7 million bonus. Evander Kane, who signed a four-year deal worth $5,125 million annually to stick with the Oilers, will split his salary between a $750,000 base and $5.5 million bonus.
The trio have the most-bonused contracts on the Oilers’ roster.
Darnell Nurse, on the other hand, will rocket into first-place as the highest-paid player on the roster throughout the season, earning all $12 million of his contract in base salary.
The figure ties Nurse for third in the NHL, alongside McDavid, Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks, and Sergei Bobrovsky and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers as the highest-grossing players of the upcoming season.
Newcomer Jack Campbell, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract to join Edmonton after parts of three seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be the 13th-highest paid goaltender in the league, and fifth-highest member of the Oilers.
In all, Edmonton has over $88.3 million dedicated in actual salaries next season.
Here’s how much each Oilers player will be making this season, sorted by total salary, with all data courtesy CapFriendly:
| players | Cap hit | base salary | bonus | total salary |
| Connor McDavid | $12,500,000 | $1,000,000 | $11,000,000 | $12,000,000 |
| Darnell Nurse | $9,250,000 | $12,000,000 | – | $12,000,000 |
| Leon Draisaitl | $8,500,000 | $1,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
| Evander Kane | $5,125,000 | $750,000 | $5,500,000 | $6,250,000 |
| Jack Campbell | $5,000,000 | $3,500,000 | $2,000,000 | $5,500,000 |
| Ryan Nugent Hopkins | $5,125,000 | $5,250,000 | – | $5,250,000 |
| Oscar Klefbom* | $4,167,000 | $5,169,000 | – | $5,169,000 |
| Zach Hyman | $5,500,000 | $5,100,000 | – | $5,100,000 |
| Tyson Barrie | $5,400,000 | $4,500,000 | – | $4,500,000 |
| Brett Kulak | $2,750,000 | $3,250,000 | – | $3,250,000 |
| Cody Ceci | $3,250,000 | $3,000,000 | – | $3,000,000 |
| Kailer Yamamoto | $3,100,000 | $2,700,000 | $300,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Jesse Puljujarvi | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | – | $3,000,000 |
| Warren Foegele | $2,750,000 | $2,900,000 | – | $2,900,000 |
| Mike Smith* | $2,200,000 | $2,500,000 | – | $2,500,000 |
| Derek Ryan | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000 | – | $1,250,000 |
| Mattias Janmark | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000 | – | $1,250,000 |
| Slater Koekkoek | $925,000 | $1,100,000 | – | $1,100,000 |
| Devin Shore | $850,000 | $950,000 | – | $950,000 |
| Evan Bouchard | $863,333 | $832,500 | – | $832,500 |
| Philip Broberg | $863,333 | $832,500 | – | $832,500 |
| Stuart Skinner | $750,000 | $750,000 | – | $750,000 |
*denotes LTIR position
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