- McDavid’s $12.5M cap hit ranks behind seven players for 2026-27
- His two-year extension pays less than teammate Leon Draisaitl
- Read below for the full list of players out-earning the game’s best
Connor McDavid is the best hockey player alive. He is nowhere close to the highest paid.
McDavid’s two-year extension kicks in this fall at a $12.5 million cap hit, the exact number he carried on his last contract. That figure now sits behind seven other players for the 2026-27 season, including one of his own teammates.
The Oilers made the extension official back in October:
He set the number himself and came in low on purpose. McDavid led the league with 138 points last season and won his fifth Ted Lindsay Award, then signed for below market value to hand GM Stan Bowman room to build. The deal runs through 2027-28, a two-year window to finally win it all in Edmonton.
The name that stings Oilers fans the most might be the one down the hall. Leon Draisaitl makes $14 million, so McDavid takes home $1.5 million less than his own linemate.
Here are the seven players carrying a bigger cap hit than McDavid next season:
- Leo Carlsson, Ducks: $18M
- Kirill Kaprizov, Wild: $17M
- Connor Bedard, Blackhawks: $15M
- Leon Draisaitl, Oilers: $14M
- Jack Eichel, Golden Knights: $13.5M
- Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs: $13.25M
- Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche: $12.604M
Two players who have not hit their primes sit at the very top. Leo Carlsson jumped to $18 million after Anaheim matched Philadelphia’s offer sheet, and Bedard landed at $15 million on his second contract.
MacKinnon slots in last at $12.604 million, and that gap looks deliberate. He signed in 2022 for a hair more than McDavid and still sits one rung above him four years later. McDavid does not appear to care who out-earns him as long as the Oilers keep winning.
