Career earnings of players picked in the first round of the 1997 NHL entry draft.
| Player | Pos. | Pick # | Drafted by | Career Earnings |
Rank | Career Earnings In today's $ |
Rank |
| Joe Thornton | C | 1 | Boston Bruins | $109,478,561 | 6 | $130,638,254 | 8 |
| Patrick Marleau | C | 2 | San Jose Sharks | $98,667,358 | 17 | $115,206,369 | 17 |
| Olli Jokinen | C | 3 | Los Angeles Kings | $46,219,646 | 188 | $57,480,228 | 174 |
| Roberto Luongo | G | 4 | New York Islanders | $94,055,646 | 21 | $110,555,621 | 26 |
| Eric Brewer | D | 5 | New York Islanders | $42,537,963 | 230 | $52,548,833 | 215 |
| Daniel Tkaczuk | C | 6 | Calgary Flames | $925,000 | 3100 | $1,389,434 | 3108 |
| Paul Mara | D | 7 | Tampa Bay Lightning | $16,437,500 | 747 | $21,497,094 | 728 |
| Sergei Samsonov | LW | 8 | Boston Bruins | $29,395,000 | 412 | $39,335,817 | 345 |
| Brad Ference | D | 10 | Vancouver Canucks | $3,820,000 | 1760 | $5,403,932 | 1713 |
| Jason Ward | RW | 11 | Montreal Canadiens | $2,675,000 | 2091 | $3,527,257 | 2082 |
| Marian Hossa | RW | 12 | Ottawa Senators | $94,874,390 | 20 | $113,482,952 | 22 |
| Daniel Cleary | RW | 13 | Chicago Blackhawks | $22,806,098 | 572 | $28,484,116 | 555 |
| Michel Riesen | LW | 14 | Edmonton Oilers | ||||
| Matt Zultek | C | 15 | Los Angeles Kings | ||||
| Ty Jones | RW | 16 | Chicago Blackhawks | $925,000 | 3100 | $1,467,766 | 3015 |
| Robert Dome | LW | 17 | Pittsburgh Penguins | $850,000 | 3245 | $1,369,680 | 3128 |
| Michael Holmqvist | C | 18 | Anaheim Ducks | $1,075,000 | 2976 | $1,397,958 | 3100 |
| Stefan Cherneski | RW | 19 | New York Rangers | ||||
| Mika Noronen | G | 21 | Buffalo Sabres | $1,665,000 | 2562 | $2,301,205 | 2531 |
| Nikos Tselios | D | 22 | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||
| Scott Hannan | D | 23 | San Jose Sharks | $29,992,366 | 403 | $37,453,669 | 366 |
| Jean-Francois Damphousse | G | 24 | New Jersey Devils | ||||
| Brenden Morrow | LW | 25 | Dallas Stars | $32,950,500 | 350 | $40,605,084 | 329 |
| Kevin Grimes | D | 26 | Colorado Avalanche |