Jim Parsons takes a look around the NHL at some of the players who provide the most value to their team, relative to their salary. With unprecedented amounts of money being handed out across the league this summer, which players bring the most to the table?
With the NHL's changing financial landscape and rising salary cap, finding value in as many contracts as possible is becoming more difficult for general managers across the league.
Valuable contracts get talked about a lot in terms of raw cap hit, but the ones that actually move the needle are the deals where a player is producing near a top-of-market level while getting paid well below it.
In other words, the player who offers the most value doesn’t always have the lowest cap hit. Money well spent is money spent on a difference-maker. I could include leadership qualities, minutes played, intangibles, franchise value, or brand awareness.
Let’s take a look at a few candidates for the most valuable contract in the NHL.
Brandon Hagel - Tampa Bay Lightning
Brandon Hagel doesn't get the recognition he deserves with the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring at least 30 goals in three of the last four seasons. He also put together a 90-point campaign in 2024-25. He’s doing it all for an incredibly low amount, a $6.5-million cap hit over six years.
The Lightning are always in the mix, even if they haven’t turned their sustained regular-season success into longer playoff runs. He’s an Olympian with Team Canada, he plays on the penalty kill and the power play. He does everything. Hagel is the kind of player every team wants to have.
If he were made available via trade, all 31 other NHL teams – including the Chicago Blackhawks, who gave him up – would put together an offer.
Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins
There may be no NHL player more important to their franchise and their city than Sidney Crosby is to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Despite earning an astoundingly low salary for the value he brings, Crosby has dragged his Penguins team behind him recently, leading them to an unexpected playoff position in the Eastern Conference last season.
He’s their captain, their leader, a mentor, a franchise icon, and honestly, the one good reason to keep watching Penguins games these days.
He’s stayed loyal to the organization when analysts, media personalities, and even Penguins fans have urged him to go somewhere and try to win one more time. He refuses, believing he can get the Penguins back into contention. He’s doing it all for $8.7 million each season.
Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid making $12.5 million per season feels almost criminal, especially when you look at what players are starting to earn on contracts signed this summer.
The Edmonton Oilers captain took a sweetheart deal for two more seasons to give the team a chance to build a contender around him. As good as he is – maybe the best in the world – he knows that it takes more than one or two big stars to win it all. That kind of off-ice leadership and financial commitment is admirable.
McDavid brings players to the Oilers, he brings coaches out of retirement, and he is the main attraction in a hockey-mad market that craves getting back to the glory years.
Quinn Hughes - Minnesota Wild
Nobody played more minutes per-game last season than Quinn Hughes. The defenseman for the Minnesota Wild touches every part of the ice and the game when he’s playing, and he’s playing a lot. At 27:44, that’s nearly half an NHL game that Hughes in the ice, which makes his salary at $7.8 million a bargain.
If there was any doubt about how valuable he is, just look at the difference between the team he played for and is playing with. The Vancouver Canucks' decision to move on from him solidified their need for a full rebuild. Without him, they knew they had to start over.
The Wild are trying to find a contract for him that allows the team to compete for a Cup, will keep him on the team as long as possible, will attract a center, and determine the direction of the franchise in the next three seasons.
Hughes has the ability to change a game and change an NHL franchise. It’s no wonder some believe he’ll be the first player to make $20 million per season.
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