THN.com Top 10: All-time salary earners
Jaromir Jagr could be the first NHLer to earn $100 million all-time if he plays another season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Brian Costello
2008-05-14 16:14:57
Jaromir Jagr is poised to become the game’s first-ever $100 million salary earner should he decide to continue his NHL career next season.
Jagr has earned $98,038,851 (U.S.) since entering the NHL in 1990-91, according to information on hockeyzoneplus.com. That’s by far the most of any player in the history of the game, although Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux surely earned more than that when endorsement deals and other business ventures are factored in.
The following top 10 list shows active players who have earned the most since former union head Bob Goodenow introduced salary disclosure in 1990. Some players who were active prior to 1990 do not have those figures included in their totals, but none would have cracked the top 10. Chris Chelios, for example, is at just over $48 million, not including his seven seasons earning less than $500,000 prior to 1990.
No goalies made the top 10. The top active stoppers are Dominik Hasek ($55.9m), Martin Brodeur ($52.3m) and Curtis Joseph ($50.7m).
10. Peter Forsberg, $65.4 million
9. Chris Pronger, $66.2 million
8. Mike Modano, $70.1 million
7. Paul Kariya, $70.7 million
6. Rob Blake, $72.0 million
5. Nicklas Lidstrom, $73.1 million
4. Keith Tkachuk, $73.7 million
3. Mats Sundin, $74.0 million
2. Joe Sakic, $87.2 million
1. Jaromir Jagr, $98.0 million
The THN.com Top 10 appears Wednesdays only on thehockeyenews.com. If you enjoy this feature, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine for the exclusive countdown, Starting From 10, and other great features from the world of hockey.
Robert E (Posted 2008-05-20 01:40:56)
Fedorov's 1998 contract gave him 28 million dollars in one year due to a bonus clause stipulating that he would lead his team to the conference finals, however, for each year afterwards up to 2003, he only made 2 million a year. He's probably sitting somewhere between 11th and 20th.
As for Tkachuk, I would suspect he bought a few too many dounut with his 73.7 million... You'd think someone earning as much as him would win a team a cup someday.
As for Sundin and Kariya (both who haven't won a cup either), I think they've done a pretty good job earning their money. Especially Kariya who at least has been in the Cup finals.
Alex (Posted 2008-05-17 23:47:23)
Modano didn't have financial difficulties, exactly, it was more that the money manager he hired didn't manage his money well. When millionaires have money problems, it's not really like a normal person having money problems. They're still rich, it just means they lost some.
Caz (Posted 2008-05-15 19:36:07)
Wasn't Modano having financial difficulties a few years ago? Did he invest those millions in Bre-X?
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-15 11:43:15)
The list is right i'm afraid...here's Sergei total NHL earnings : $55,439,036
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-15 11:41:09)
I'm curious as to how much Jaromir "Gambler" Jagr has left in his bank account...why do yo uthink he wants a 4 year contract now? Or is it 2? He changes his mind so often its hard to keep track...
Ed Dickson (Posted 2008-05-15 10:43:11)
Nick Lidstrom being behind a couple of those guys shows you why the
teams they play for are missing the mark. What has Sundin ever done
for the Leafs except get Leaf fans excited which doesn't take much.
Pretty soon Brian McCabe will be on that list. Boy is his agent a super
negotiator or what?
russell (Posted 2008-05-15 10:18:16)
I agree with Steve about Fedorov. I remember back in 1992 or so, Fedorov got pay raise from a few hundred thousand to millions and now it's already 16 years; maybe he took a few years off?
Joshua (Posted 2008-05-15 03:44:11)
At one point, the Avalanche where covering four of those salaries. Guess if they tried that one again, there would be a lot of happy AHLers filling out the roster.
Lukey Luke (Posted 2008-05-14 23:24:25)
Man I would love to have some of that coin!
Steve (Posted 2008-05-14 18:48:21)
Surprised Federov's not on there. Even now he makes around $7 mil. Plus, I seem to remember him getting something like $27 mil in bonuses, in one year, after Detroit matched the Carolina offer sheet designed to discourage Detroit from matching.
Ryan (Posted 2008-05-14 18:24:19)
Why not?
Lidstrom usually takes a lower than market value salary to stay in Detroit, plus he never tests the open market.
Tkachuk is usually one of the highly sought after FA's and takes offers in a bidders war.
Chris (Posted 2008-05-14 16:55:00)
Tkachuk ahead of Lidstrom? I never would have believed that.
Advertisement
Is Vincent Lecavalier a good choice for captain of the Lightning?
Our Partners
The Hockey News Corporation. All Rights Reserved © 2007 Transcontinental
Standards: XHTML 1.0 STRICT + CSS 2. V 1.1 04.03.2008
