For the 2025-26 season, all eyes were on the Florida Panthers as they began a historic quest for a three-peat. The league entered this campaign with a revamped look: Mitch Marner debuts for the Vegas Golden Knights, and the newly rebranded Utah Mammoth take the ice for their first full season. Storylines abound as Alex Ovechkin sat just three goals shy of the 900-goal milestone, while Anze Kopitar prepared for his final NHL lap. The February break for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, marks the long-awaited return of best-on-best international play.
| vs previous season | ||||||
| Rank | Player | NHL Salary ($US) | In today's $ | +/- ($) | +/- (%) | |
| 1 | Leon Draisaitl | $16,500,000 | $16,500,000 | $8,500,000 | 106% | |
| 2 | Nathan MacKinnon | $16,050,000 | $16,050,000 | -$450,000 | -3% | |
| 3 | Igor Shesterkin | $15,825,000 | $15,825,000 | $9,158,333 | 137% | |
| 4 | Auston Matthews | $15,200,000 | $15,200,000 | -$1,500,000 | -9% | |
| 5 | Mitch Marner | $15,000,000 | $15,000,000 | $6,975,000 | 87% | |
| 5 | Mikko Rantanen | $15,000,000 | $15,000,000 | $9,000,000 | 150% | |
| 7 | Elias Pettersson | $14,500,000 | $14,500,000 | |||
| 8 | William Nylander | $13,500,000 | $13,500,000 | |||
| 9 | David Pastrnak | $12,500,000 | $12,500,000 | -$500,000 | -4% | |
| 10 | Sebastian Antero Aho | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | |||
| 10 | Brayden Point | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | |||
| 10 | Rasmus Dahlin | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | -$1,000,000 | -8% | |
| 10 | Noah Dobson | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | $8,000,000 | 200% | |
| 10 | Evan Bouchard | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | $7,700,000 | 179% | |
| 15 | Aleksander Barkov | $11,600,000 | $11,600,000 | -$400,000 | -3% | |
| 16 | Dougie Hamilton | $11,550,000 | $11,550,000 | -$1,050,000 | -8% | |
| 17 | Charlie McAvoy | $11,500,000 | $11,500,000 | |||
| 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | $11,350,000 | $11,350,000 | $100,000 | 1% | |
| 19 | Matthew Tkachuk | $11,250,000 | $11,250,000 | |||
| 20 | Mikhail Sergachev | $11,050,000 | $11,050,000 | |||
| 21 | Juuse Saros | $11,020,000 | $11,020,000 | $6,020,000 | 120% | |
| 22 | Drew Doughty | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | |||
| 22 | Miro Heiskanen | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | |||
| 22 | Travis Konecny | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | $4,000,000 | 57% | |
| 22 | Jakob Chychrun | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | $4,000,000 | 57% | |