The Five Highest Paid Goalies in the NHL entering the 2024-25 NHL season
Goalies can make or break an NHL team, with the season almost a month away let's break down the highest paid netminders.
A goalie can really be the difference maker come playoff time for an NHL team. It is the goaltender who can impact the game more than any other player on the ice, and because of it some of the best in the league sign some of the highest contracts in the NHL.
Entering the 2024-25 NHL Season, there are a handful of teams looking to take a step forward this season. Teams like the New Jersey Devils traded for goaltender Jacob Markstrom, in order to improve their chances of competing this season.
According to Puck Pedia, the average cap hit for an NHL goaltender is $4.5 million a season, the highest paid goaltenders are making well north of that number and a few have won a Stanley Cup as well.
5. Ilya Sorokin
Ilya Sorokin was drafted in the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders. The 29 year old goalie played in 56 games last season and has long been one of the best players on the New York Islanders.
Sorokin signed an eight year $66 million contract carrying a cap hit of $8.25 on July 1, 2023. This season will be his first year playing with the new deal. Last year he registered a 3.01 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.
4. Connor Hellebuyck
Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck has long been one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. The 31 year old netminder is entering the first year of a seven year contract he signed in Oct. 2023.
The $59.50 million contract carries a cap hit of $8.5 million, giving him a spot over Sorokin by a quarter a million in a season. Hellebuyck has played in 60 or more games in each of the past three seasons and has long been one of the best netminders in the NHL.
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy
With the third most expensive contract, we arrive on the first goaltender with multiple Stanley Cups to his name. Vasilevskiy was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft and the Russian goaltendre has long been considered one of the best in the game.
Vasilevskiy has made a Stanley Cup favorite Tampa Bay Lightning roster one of the besta round. In the summer of 2019, Vasilevskiy signed a massive $76 million dollar eight year contract carrying a $9.5 million dollar cap hit.
The Lightning netminder was playing on just his second NHL contract when he signed the massive extension that will expire after the 2027-28 season when Vasilevskiy is 33. Last season in 52 games Vasilevskiy averaged a 2.9 goals against average and a save percentage of .900. While the Lightning did not make it out of the first round, their netminder was consistent and gave them a chance to win night in and night out.
2. Sergei Bobrovsky
In the second spot comes a netminder who finally won it all this past season. Sergei Bobrovsky signed a massive $70 million dollar seven year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 1, 2019. The former Blue Jackets netminder came to Florida looking to win and while the start of his time in Florida was not great, he did finally show the type of goaltender he was with two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and a Stanley Cup ring.
Bobrovsky's contact will expire at the end of the 2025-26 NHL season and the deal carries a $10 million cap hit.
For a few seasons, Bobrovsky's contract was looked at like one of the worst in the league's it is funny what a Stanley Cup championship can do to change the narrative. For a while it looked like Bob was the favorite to win the Conn Smythe this postseason.
1. Carey Price
Carey Price last played hockey during the 2021-22 NHL season when he started just five games. Over the course of the past few seasons Price has struggled with a knee injury and is not expected to play in the NHL again, he has been placed on long term injury reserve the last few seasons until his contract expires at the end of the 2025-26 NHL season.
While Price has never won the Stanley Cup, he is the most winningest goaltender in Montreal Canadiens history with 361 career wins. Price is also the first goaltender in NHL history to win the Ted Lindsay Award, William M. Jennings Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy all in the same season.
Each of the top five highest paid goaltenders deserve a spot on this list, but the real interesting angle might be different, the five highest valued contracts amonst goaltenders in the NHL, would these five be on the list?
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