Who has been the Most Supportive Team in Regards to NHL Player Salaries?

In every league there is that one team that pisses you off because they keep poaching the top talent which in theory is supposed to make them winners; the New York Yankees were the poster child for this theory of Talent+Money=Winning. Of course, there are a lot of other teams that have failed in this model, mainly because they tend to stick with the 'franchise player' idea, in which you pay 1 player an insane amount of money to produce wins and while it has proven to perhaps increase your winning percentage a little, it doesn't necessarily equate to championships.

The idea of the salary cap is to make a competitive team on the ice and in the owner's bank account. And while there have been some instances where a GM appears to have been sniffing glue at that one particular moment in time when they fill in the 'yearly salary' blank on a player's contract, most teams are learning that they can't just ride the back of one player to the Stanley Cup. Well, except for Philadelphia who has had a decades long history of raising the bar in terms of player salaries.

Did you know Chris Gratton once made $10 million a year? (1996-97) Which was $4 million a year more than Wayne Gretzky was making at the time?

Of course, it helps that he signed in Philadelphia, who has continually shown over the years that their ownership has no concept of money, says Chris Pronger, Ilya Bryzgalov, Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Eric Lindros, Shea Weber - all people who have profited immensely by being on Philadelphia's 'no price is too much' bargaining strategy. By trying to buy talent not only do the Flyers put a 'price' on a player, the rest of the players use that as a comparison to what they should get paid. When Gretzky saw what he was being compared to, he retired rather than be the guy that was being paid less than Keith Tkachuk, who is a great player, loved the guy but he's not all-time scoring leader.


Basically, the Philadelphia Offer Sheet is every Restricted Free Agents Holy Grail as proven time and time again when it comes to the off season.

Seriously, who the fuck was Chris Gratton?

Other notable observations taken from Wikipedia's top 5 NHL salaries by year...

1989–90 season

Although Wayne Gretzky is considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time, his total salaries are not among the top 20 salary earners of all time.

1. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2 million
2. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $1.72 million
3. Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) $0.86 million
4. Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $0.7 million
5. Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) $0.575 million

1990–91 season

1. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
2. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.18 million
3. Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $1.3 million
4. Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins) $1.194 million
5. Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) $1.116 million

1991–92 season

1. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
2. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.34 million
3. Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) $1.5 million
4. Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $1.4 million

   Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $1.4 million

1992–93 season

1. Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $3.5 million
2. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million
3. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.408 million
4. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $2.385 million
5. Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $1.775 million

1993–94 season

Patrick Roy is the highest-paid goaltender of all time, with $56,771,988 earned in salaries alone.

1. Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $3.35 million
2. Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $3.2 million
3. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $3 million

   Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3 million

5. Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens) $2.6593 million

1994–95 season

After the 1994–95 NHL season was shortened to 48 games due to a lockout, players earned only about 56% of their predicted salary.

1. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3.66 million (Predicted salary of $6.54 million)
2. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $3.45 million (Predicted salary of $6.29 million)
3. Scott Stevens (New Jersey Devils) $3.24 million (Predicted salary of $5.8 million)
4. Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $2.61 million (Predicted salary of $4.5 million)
5. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.361,429 million (Predicted salary of $4.071429 million)

1995–96 season

1. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings/St. Louis Blues) $6.54 million
2. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6.29 million
3. Keith Tkachuk (Winnipeg Jets) $6 million
4. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $4.5714 million
5. Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $4.5 million

1996–97 season

1. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $11.35 million
2. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6 million
3. Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $5 million
4. Pat LaFontaine (Buffalo Sabres) $4.6 million
5. Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche) $4.567 million

1997–98 season

1. Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) $16.45 million ^[2]
2. Chris Gratton (Philadelphia Flyers) $10.15 million
3. Wayne Gretzky (New York Rangers) $6.25 million
4. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $6 million
5. Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $5.5 million

1998–99 season

1. Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings) $14.5 million ^[2]
2. Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $8.25 million
3. Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $8 million

   Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres) $8 million

5. Mats Sundin (Toronto Maple Leafs) $6.347 million

1999–00 season

Jaromír Jágr has earned more in salaries than any other hockey player – approximately $100 million.

1. Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) $11.7 million
2. Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $11 million
3. Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $9 million
4. Theoren Fleury (New York Rangers) $8.5 million

   Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $8.5 million

2000–01 season

1. Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $10 million

   Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $10 million

3. Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9.842708 million
4. Pavel Bure (Florida Panthers) $9 million
5. Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $7.3 million

2001–02 season

1. Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11 million
2. Pavel Bure (Florida Panthers/New York Rangers) $10 million

   Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $10 million

4. Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) $9.832727 million
5. Chris Pronger (St. Louis Blues) $9.5 million

   Teemu Selanne (San Jose Sharks) $9.5 million

2002–03 season

1. Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11.483333 million
2. Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $11 million
3. Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $10.5 million
4. Pavel Bure (New York Rangers) $10 million

   Paul Kariya (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) $10 million

2003–04 season

Pavel Bure amassed $56,369,794 in his twelve-year career. He would have earned $10 million in 2003–04, but due to injuries, he was forced to retire early, having played his final game around the time of his 32nd birthday.

1. Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $11 million

   Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) $11 million

3. Sergei Fedorov (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) $10 million

   Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $10 million

   Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $10 million

2004–05 season

Season cancelled (see 2004–05 NHL lockout).

2005–06 season

The team salary cap is $39 million. Under the latest NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, no player can earn more than 20 percent of the team salary cap ($7.8 million).

1. Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million^[3]
2. Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $7.6 million

   Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) $7.6 million

   Alexei Yashin (New York Islanders) $7.6 million

5. Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) $7 million

2006–07 season

The team salary cap is $44 million. No player can earn more than $8.8 million.

1. Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million
2. Brad Richards (Tampa Bay Lightning) $7.8 million
3. Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) $7.6 million

   Mats Sundin (Toronto Maple Leafs) $7.6 million

   Alexei Yashin (New York Islanders) $7.6 million

2007–08 season

The team salary cap is $50.3 million. No player can earn more than $10.06 million.

1. Daniel Briere (Philadelphia Flyers) $10 million

   Scott Gomez (New York Rangers) $10 million

   Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres) $10 million

4. Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers) $8.36 million
5. Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers) $8 million

2008–09 season

The team salary cap is $56.7 million. No player can earn more than $11.34 million.

1. Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators) $10 million
2. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

   Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) $9 million

4. Mats Sundin (Vancouver Canucks) $8.6 million
5. Miikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames) $8.5 million

2009–10 season

The team salary cap is $56.8 million. No player can earn more than $11.36 million.

1. Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) $10 million
2. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

   Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

   Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) $9 million

5. Chris Drury (New York Rangers) $8.05 million

2010–11 season

The team salary cap is $59.4 million. No player can earn more than $11.88 million.

1. Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) $10 million

   Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks) $10 million

2. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

   Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

   Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) $9 million

2011–12 season

The team salary cap is $64.3 million. No player can earn more than $12.86 million.

1. Brad Richards (New York Rangers) $12 million
2. Ilya Bryzgalov (Philadelphia Flyers) $10 million

   Christian Ehrhoff (Buffalo Sabres) $10 million

   Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) $10 million

3. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) $9 million

2012–13 season

The team salary cap is $70.2 million. No player can earn more than $14.04 million.

1. Shea Weber (Nashville Predators) $14 million
2. Tyler Myers (Buffalo Sabres) $12 million

   Zach Parise (Minnesota Wild) $12 million

   Brad Richards (New York Rangers) $12 million

   Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild) $12 million