Top 10 Highest Paid NHL Hockey Goalies
The goaltender is the backbone of a hockey team, and sometimes they cost a pretty penny to keep around. Carey Price set the bar for NHL goalies in 2017, when he signed an $84 million deal with a cap hit of $10.5 million. Remember that cap hit and salary are different: cap hit is simply the total money divided by the years on the deal, whereas salary can fluctuate from year to year. Cap hit matters more to a front office, whereas the players themselves are probably more concerned with their salary. This piece will look at the top 10 goaltenders by 2022-23 salary.
Who Are the Highest Paid NHL Hockey Goalies in the World?
- Sergei Bobrovsky - $12,000,000
- Andrei Vasilevskiy - $11,000,000
- Jacob Markstrom - $8,000,000
- Carey Price - $7,750,000
- Matt Murray - $7,000,000
- Robin Lehner - $6,500,000
- John Gibson - $6,400,000
- Philipp Grubauer - $6,250,000
- Jordan Binnington - $6,000,000
- Igor Seshterkin - $6,000,000
1. Sergei Bobrovsky - $12,000,000
Sergei Bobrovsky is set to earn $12 million in 2022-23, making him the highest paid NHL goaltender. Bobrovsky inked his deal with the Florida Panthers on July 1st, 2019. Bobrovsky’s contract pays him a bit more than his skill level and age might suggest.,
Bobrovsky was able to get such a favorable contract because he signed it from free agency, meaning all NHL teams had a chance to get him., He likely chose the highest bidder, and there were certainly many teams seeking out his service.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy - $11,000,000
Andrei Vasilevskiy’s deal pays him an AAV of $9.5 million over eight years. Few would come up with a name other than Vasilevskiy when asked who was the best goaltender over the last few years. Vasilevskiy won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2019-20 and 2020-21, playing brilliantly in both championship runs.
The contract was signed on July 29th, 2019, just four weeks after Bobrovsky signed with Florida. Vasilevskiy’s deal is quite team friendly, and he likely could have received well above $10 million a year if he had tested the open market.
3. Jacob Markstrom - $8,000,000
There’s a huge drop off from second to third place, with Markstrom coming in $3 million below Vasilevskiy in 2022-23 salary at $8 million. Still, the Flames’ goaltender will be paid handsomely– especially considering his salary cap is only $6 million.
Markstrom’s contract is one of the rare back-loaded contracts of the NHL, meaning he receives more money in the later years of the deal. In his first two seasons with Calgary, Markstrom’s salary was only $4 million.
4. Carey Price - $7,750,000
Carey’s Price’s eight-year, $84 million contract was signed on July 2nd, 2017. The Canadien netminder has an annual cap hit of $10.5 million but received a big part of his salary early on. In the first two seasons of this contract, Price’s salary was $15 million per year. That salary has dropped off considerably, seeing as Price is only collecting $7.75 million this year.
Price’s deal keeps him under contract through the 2025-26 season, though there is some doubt about whether or not Price will make it that far. The veteran goaltender has been battling a number of injuries lately and missed almost all of the 2021-22 NHL season.
5. Matt Murray - $7,000,000
Matt Murray won back-to-back Stanley Cups in his first two NHL seasons while making about $600,000 a year; now, six years later, Murray is getting paid $7 million to mostly sit on the bench!
Murray started his career with the Penguins, which is where he had the bulk of his success. He was then traded to Ottawa, where he spent his next two seasons. In the summer of 2022, Murray was again traded, this time to Toronto. Two draft picks were sent along with Murray in order to entice Toronto to take on Murray’s problematic contract.,
6. Robin Lehner - $6,500,000
Robin Lehner is playing on a five-year, $25,000,000 deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. Knights’ GM Kelly McCrimmon signed Lehner to this deal on October 3rd, 2020. Eight months later, Vegas traded away Marc Andre Fleury, their star goaltender.
Lehner replaced Fleury well enough, but many fans had become accustomed to Fleury’s dominance and thus used Lehner as a scapegoat for Vegas’s troubles. Lehner’s $6.5 million salary in 2022-23 is the highest of his five-year contract.
7. John Gibson - $6,400,000
John Gibson signed his current contract on August 4th, 2018; the American goaltender is set to receive $6.4 million in 2022-23 for his services, as he does every year on this contract. Unlike most NHL players, Gibson receives the same amount of money each year on his deal.
Gibson is under contract through the 2026-27 NHL season, at which point he will be turning 34 years old. The talented goalkeeper may be on a new team when his contract ends, as the Ducks have been exploring the possibility of trading Gibson.,
8. Philipp Grubauer - $6,250,000
Philipp Grubauer, who signed a six-year, $35.4 million deal with the Seattle Kraken, is believed to have passed up on staying in Colorado because the Avalanche would not offer him a six-year contract.
Grubauer surprised many in the NHL community when he decided not to re-sign with Colorado after the conclusion of the 2020-21 NHL season., At the time, Colorado seemed like front-runners for the next Stanley Cup– and sure enough, they emerged from the 2021-22 season as champions.,
9. Jordan Binnington - $6,000,000
There are four players tied for ninth place, each making $6 million in 2022-23: Jordan Binnington, Igor Seshterkin, Linus Ullmark, and Darcy Kuemper.
Of those four players, Binnington has the highest cap hit, which is why he was given the tie-breaker. Binnington, who is set to make $6 million this season, also has a cap hit of $6 million. Binnington’s salary varies a bit, earning the lowest amount in the first and last years of his contract.
10. Igor Seshterkin - $6,000,000
Igor Seshterkin was included on this list instead of Ullmark and Kuemper since Seshterkin has the higher cap hit while they all share the same $6 million 2022-23 salary. Seshterkin’s contract, which Chris Drury inked on August 9th, 2021, is already looking like a steal for the Rangers. Seshterkin won the 2021-22 Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s best goaltender., Considering Seshterkin has a cap hit of just $5.67 million, he provides extreme value for his price tag.
Honorable Mentions
- Darcy Kuemper - $6,000,000
- Linus Ullmark - $6,000,000
- Jack Campbell - $5,500,000
- Elvis Merzlikins - $5,250,000
- Frederik Andersen - $5,000,000
- Juuse Saros - $5,000,000
- Ville Husso - $4,750,000
- Jonathan Bernier - $4,650,000
- Tristan Jarry - $4,500,000
- Thatcher Demko - $4,500,000
FAQ
Who is the highest paid goalie in the NHL?
The highest paid goaltender in 2022-23 is Sergei Bobrovsky, who will be paid a salary of $12 million. Bobrovsky does not have the highest cap hit of all NHL goaltenders, but rather the highest salary for this specific season. The goaltender with the highest cap hit is Carey Price, whose cap hit is $10.5 million per season.