Kirill
Kaprizov’s new contract is an NHL history-maker – at least, for now.
The
28-year-old signed an eight-year, $136-million contract extension on Sept. 30 with
the Minnesota Wild, which selected him 135th overall in the 2015 NHL draft.
The left
winger’s contract not only carries the highest cap hit in NHL history but the highest
total value as well.
The biggest
question, of course, is whether Kaprizov will hold those records when his
contract kicks in for the 2026-27 season. Three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor
McDavid is also in the final year of his deal but has not yet agreed to a new contract
with the Edmonton Oilers.
For now, Kaprizov
leads this list of the largest contracts in NHL history in terms of total value.
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota:
$136 Million, 8 Years, $17-Million Cap Hit
Kaprizov agreed
to this historic contract just weeks after reportedly turning down a
$128-million offer, which would have set the record anyway.
Although he
was selected in the same draft as McDavid, Kaprizov’s appeared in fewer than
half of McDavid’s games, since he played five seasons in the KHL before moving to
North America.
But he’s
still put up 386 points in 319 games, with a career-high 108 points in 2021-22.
He’s won the Calder Trophy and has been in the Hart Trophy conversation nearly
every year.
While he
leads the NHL in total contract value, Kaprizov is still $39 million short of
the top 100 list for largest sports contracts in team sports.

Alex Ovechkin, Washington:
$124 Million, 13 Years, $9,538,462 Cap Hit
Ovechkin’s
record stood for more than 17 years.
He signed
his mega-deal with the Capitals in January 2008, just weeks after 2026 NHL draft
prospect Gavin McKenna was born.
In 2013,
the NHL and NHLPA’s new collective bargaining agreement decreased the maximum contract
term to eight years for players re-signing with their team. In September 2026,
that maximum term will become seven years.
Ovechkin
ended up winning his first of three Hart Trophies in 2007-08. He also won the Maurice
‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy for the first of nine times and the Art Ross Trophy.
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton:
$112 Million, 8 Years, $14-Million Cap Hit
Draisaitl’s
new contract kicks in for the 2025-26 season. The maximum term limited his
total value, but his cap hit was the highest in NHL history for just over a
year until Kaprizov’s announcement.
The Oilers
center had already won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award
before signing his contract extension in September 2024. Last season, he won
the Rocket Richard Trophy after putting up 52 goals. That’s not even his career
high – he scored 55 times in 2021-22.
His
career-high 128 points are 20 more than Kaprizov’s best, although the latter
has only played more than 75 games in a season once – Draisaitl’s done so six
times.
Shea Weber, Nashville:
$110 Million, 14 Years, $7,857,143 Cap Hit
The Nashville
Predators were faced with a massive decision in the summer of 2012 when their
captain was at risk of leaving as an RFA.
The
Philadelphia Flyers signed Weber to an offer sheet, giving the smaller-market Predators
one week to either match it or let him walk.
"Our ownership has provided us with the necessary
resources to build a Stanley Cup-winning team," then-GM
David Poile said at the time of the offer sheet.
Nashville decided to match it, but after five years, they
traded him to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for fellow defenseman P.K.
Subban.
Weber last played in 2020-21, when the Habs lost in the
Stanley Cup final. Since then, his contract has been moved to the Vegas Golden
Knights, Arizona Coyotes, Utah Mammoth and Chicago Blackhawks. The 2025-26
campaign is the final year of the contract.
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh:
$104.4 Million, 12 Years, $8.7-Million Cap Hit
Crosby had
won the Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Art Ross Trophy, Rocket
Richard Trophy and Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award before he signed this
12-year deal in June 2012.
Although
Ovechkin agreed to a larger cap hit and total value four years earlier, Crosby arguably
took a discount to help the Penguins build the best team possible. They eventually
won the Stanley Cup twice more before Ovechkin got his first NHL championship
ring.
Even when
Crosby’s deal expired after the 2024-25 season, he signed a two-year contract
extension for the same $8.7-million cap hit. Talk about loyalty.

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado:
$100.80 Million, 8 Years, $12.6-Million Cap Hit
MacKinnon
briefly had the highest cap hit in the NHL when he signed the deal on Sept. 20,
2022. Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews surpassed it in August 2023
with a $13.25-million cap hit on a four-year deal.
The
Colorado Avalanche center had already won the Calder Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy
before agreeing to the contract extension. He ended up winning the Stanley Cup
later that season and added a Hart Trophy victory in 2023-24.
Connor McDavid, Edmonton:
$100 Million, 8 Years, $12.5-Million Cap Hit
McDavid is
already in the top 10 for largest NHL contracts, but he will almost certainly
climb this list when he likely signs a new deal sometime in the next year.
He’s
accomplished more than Kaprizov, which would justify a larger contract than the
Wild winger, but he wants to win the Stanley Cup multiple times, which may mean
taking less to ensure there’s enough talent and depth to be competitive.
When he
signed his current contract in July 2017, he had just won his first of five Art
Trophies, first of three Hart Trophies and first of four Ted Lindsay Awards in 2016-17.
McDavid’s
1.52 points per game are the fourth-most in NHL history, trailing only Wayne
Gretzky (1.92), Mario Lemieux (1.88) and Newsy Lalonde (1.69 in 99 career
games).
Ilya Kovalchuk, New
Jersey: $100 Million, 15 Years, $6,666,666 Cap Hit
Kovalchuk’s
enormous deal with the New Jersey Devils in 2010 came after a larger contract
was disallowed.
The NHL rejected
a 17-year,
$102-million deal that would have paid Kovalchuk $95 million in Years 1 to 10
and $7 million in the final seven years. Keep in mind that Kovalchuk was 27 at
the time and would have been 44 when the contract expired. The NHL argued the
front-loaded deal violated the collective bargaining agreement, and an
arbitrator ruled in favor of the league.
The NHL
even fined New Jersey $3 million and forced the team to forfeit a first-round
pick and third-round pick.
After all
that, Kovalchuk retired from the NHL three years into the adjusted 15-year,
$100-million contract, so his contract was terminated. He played in the KHL for
seven seasons before returning to the NHL to play for the Los Angeles Kings, Canadiens and Capitals. He played his last NHL season in
2019-20 and last KHL season in 2023-24.
If the
17-year contract was allowed, it still would have had two seasons left.

Ryan Suter And Zach Parise,
Minnesota: $98 Million, 13 Years, $7,538,462 Cap Hit
Parise and
Suter round out the top 10 with identical contracts they signed with the Wild on
July 4, 2012.
Parise recorded
at least 60 points in five seasons by that point, including a career-high 94
points in 2008-09. He was part of the Devils’ run to the Stanley Cup final in
2011-12, recording 15 points in 24 games.
Suter,
meanwhile, was a very reliable defender for the Predators over seven seasons, averaging
22:37 of ice time during that span. He had five 30-point campaigns, including
46 in 2011-12.
The
defenseman ended up setting a career-high 51 points in 2015-16 and 2017-18 in
Minnesota. His average ice time of 29:25 in 2013-14 is the highest in NHL
history since 1997-98, when tracking for that stat began.
Parise,
meanwhile, only notched a high of 62 points during his time with them. And from
2012-13 to 2020-21, the Wild only won two playoff rounds.
Minnesota
bought out the contracts of both players before the 2021-22 season. The team
will pay buyout cap hits through 2028-29.

Mikko Rantanen, Dallas:
$96 Million, 8 Years, $12-Million Cap Hit
Rantanen
and Mitch Marner were briefly tied for 10th place before Kaprizov re-signed.
Rantanen
signed his eight-year contract extension with the Dallas Stars amid a surprising
campaign. After playing parts of 10 seasons with the Avalanche and winning the
Stanley Cup in 2022, Colorado decided not to continue contract negotiations
with Rantanen and traded the star to the Carolina Hurricanes in January 2025.
The
28-year-old right winger played only 13 games with Carolina, recording six
points. With the Hurricanes failing to sign Rantanen to a new deal, they moved
him at the NHL trade deadline to the Stars, which immediately announced an
extension.
Rantanen
faced his former longtime team in the first round of the playoffs, eliminating
the Avalanche in Game 7 with a hat trick.
Mitch Marner, Toronto/Vegas:
$96 Million, 8 Years, $12-Million Cap Hit
Marner, 28,
was about to be the top UFA of the free-agent market this past summer.
The day
before he actually became one, reports surfaced that the Toronto Maple Leafs moved
him to the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade. The teams announced the
deal on the morning of July 1.
Marner put
up 741 points in 657 games with the Maple Leafs, as well as 63 points in 70
playoff games. He was named to the NHL’s first all-star team in 2021 and 2022.
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