Mario Lemieux missed the first 50 games of the 1990-1991 season with a back injury, and fell second to Wayne Gretzky as the best-paid NHLer, but won his first Stanley Cup and was named playoff's MVP. Wayne Gretzky was points leader for the league while Brett Hull was the best scorer with 86 goals. 7 players were now making more than a million per season, up from 2 the previous year.
| vs previous season | |||||
| Rank | Player | NHL Salary ($US) | In today's $ | +/- ($) | +/- (%) |
| 1 | Wayne Gretzky | $3,000,000 | $6,206,184 | $1,280,000 | 74% |
| 2 | Mario Lemieux | $2,500,000 | $5,171,820 | $500,000 | 25% |
| 3 | Brett Hull | $1,766,000 | $3,653,374 | $1,641,000 | 1313% |
| 4 | Steve Yzerman | $1,300,000 | $2,689,346 | $600,000 | 86% |
| 5 | Chris Chelios | $1,100,000 | $2,275,601 | $170,500 | 18% |
| 5 | Raymond Bourque | $1,100,000 | $2,275,601 | $600,000 | 120% |
| 7 | Paul Coffey | $900,000 | $1,861,855 | $450,000 | 100% |
| 8 | Mark Messier | $824,434 | $1,705,530 | -$12,708 | -2% |
| 9 | Scott Stevens | $775,000 | $1,603,264 | $475,000 | 158% |
| 10 | Cam Neely | $750,000 | $1,551,546 | $425,000 | 131% |
| 10 | Steve Larmer | $750,000 | $1,551,546 | $485,000 | 183% |
| 10 | Rick Tocchet | $750,000 | $1,551,546 | $500,000 | 200% |
| 13 | Bryan Trottier | $720,000 | $1,489,484 | -$80,000 | -10% |
| 14 | Al MacInnis | $685,600 | $1,418,320 | $284,225 | 71% |
| 15 | Brian Bellows | $675,000 | $1,396,391 | $375,000 | 125% |
| 16 | Patrick Roy | $668,460 | $1,382,862 | $414,960 | 164% |
| 17 | Ron Hextall | $660,000 | $1,365,360 | $160,000 | 32% |
| 18 | James Patrick | $650,000 | $1,344,673 | $335,000 | 106% |
| 19 | Stephane Richer | $642,750 | $1,329,675 | $410,375 | 177% |
| 20 | Kevin Hatcher | $600,000 | $1,241,237 | $415,000 | 224% |
| 21 | Mark Howe | $563,000 | $1,164,694 | $138,000 | 32% |
| 22 | Peter Stastny | $560,000 | $1,158,488 | $154,400 | 38% |
| 23 | Larry Robinson | $550,000 | $1,137,800 | ||
| 23 | Doug Wilson | $550,000 | $1,137,800 | $50,000 | 10% |
| 25 | Petr Svoboda | $535,625 | $1,108,062 | $282,125 | 111% |
Photo credit: Score and Upper Deck.