Eric Lindros, in his first NHL season, is the best-paid player of the league. Teemu Selanne, also a rookie, is the 7th best-paid NHLer. He wins the Calder trophy and breaks the rookie scoring record with 76 goals. Mario Lemieux is the points leader while Wayne Gretzky, missing more than half th season, doesn't finish in the scoring top 3 of the league for the first time in his career. Montréal, led by Patrick Roy, wins the Stanley Cup in 5 games against the LA Kings. For the first time, everybody in the Top 25 NHL salaries is making over $1M.
| vs previous season | ||||||
| Rank | Player | NHL Salary ($US) | In today's $ | +/- ($) | +/- (%) | |
| 1 | Mario Lemieux | $3,600,000 | $7,771,095 | $1,262,000 | 54% | |
| 2 | Eric Lindros | $3,500,000 | $7,555,231 | |||
| 3 | Wayne Gretzky | $3,000,000 | $6,475,912 | |||
| 4 | Mark Messier | $2,385,000 | $5,148,350 | $1,301,000 | 120% | |
| 5 | Mike Modano | $1,950,000 | $4,209,343 | $1,350,000 | 225% | |
| 6 | Steve Yzerman | $1,800,000 | $3,885,547 | |||
| 7 | Pat LaFontaine | $1,775,000 | $3,831,581 | -$625,000 | -26% | |
| 8 | Brian Leetch | $1,700,000 | $3,669,684 | $1,450,000 | 580% | |
| 9 | Brett Hull | $1,600,000 | $3,453,820 | $100,000 | 7% | |
| 10 | Teemu Selanne | $1,571,300 | $3,391,867 | |||
| 11 | Luc Robitaille | $1,400,000 | $3,022,092 | $300,000 | 27% | |
| 12 | Brendan Shanahan | $1,390,000 | $3,000,506 | $765,000 | 122% | |
| 13 | Kevin Stevens | $1,375,000 | $2,968,126 | |||
| 14 | Mike Gartner | $1,350,000 | $2,914,160 | $670,000 | 99% | |
| 15 | Patrick Roy | $1,348,010 | $2,909,865 | $300,410 | 29% | |
| 16 | Grant Fuhr | $1,323,200 | $2,856,309 | $953,048 | 257% | |
| 17 | Brian Bellows | $1,240,500 | $2,677,790 | $490,500 | 65% | |
| 18 | Raymond Bourque | $1,197,000 | $2,583,889 | $1,000 | 0% | |
| 19 | Scott Stevens | $1,180,000 | $2,547,192 | $25,000 | 2% | |
| 20 | Phil Housley | $1,157,800 | $2,499,270 | $743,125 | 179% | |
| 21 | Dale Hawerchuk | $1,150,000 | $2,482,433 | $500,000 | 77% | |
| 21 | John Vanbiesbrouck | $1,150,000 | $2,482,433 | $775,000 | 207% | |
| 23 | Tom Barrasso | $1,125,000 | $2,428,467 | $750,000 | 200% | |
| 24 | Chris Chelios | $1,100,000 | $2,374,501 | |||
| 24 | Paul Coffey | $1,100,000 | $2,374,501 | $100,000 | 10% | |
Photo credit: Fleer Ultra and Leaf.