Washington Capitals career earnings
$1,054,249,028 across 32 careers, led by Alex Ovechkin on $170,720,893.
Every man on the roster, ranked by what his contracts have been worth across his whole career rather than by what this franchise is paying him now. It comes to 4.0% of the money in the NHL file.
Washington Capitals at a glance
What the roster has been paid
- Career money
- $1,054,249,028
- Careers
- 32
- Per career
- $32,945,282
- Paid through 2026-27
- $1,054,249,028
- Still to be paid
- $0
- Rank
- 5 of 32 franchises
The Washington Capitals squad page carries the current roster and what each man is paid this season. What follows is the other question: what those same men have earned across every season of their careers.
The fifteen richest Washington Capitals careers
Total contract money, 2005 to 2026
Every Washington Capitals career
Ranked by total contract money
| # | Player | Position | Seasons | Span | Still owed | Career earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alex Ovechkin | Left Wing | 21 | 2005 to 2025 | - | $170,720,893$170.7m |
| 02 | Nicklas Backstrom | Center | 18 | 2007 to 2024 | - | $115,550,000$115.5m |
| 03 | Henrik Lundqvist | Goaltender | 17 | 2005 to 2021 | - | $104,908,390$104.9m |
| 04 | John Carlson | Defenseman | 17 | 2008 to 2025 | - | $88,946,951$88.9m |
| 05 | T.J. Oshie | Right Wing | 17 | 2008 to 2024 | - | $70,843,902$70.8m |
| 06 | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Center | 12 | 2013 to 2024 | - | $69,747,884$69.7m |
| 07 | Matt Niskanen | Defenseman | 14 | 2007 to 2020 | - | $49,004,268$49.0m |
| 08 | Darcy Kuemper Paid in 2026-27 | Goaltender | 14 | 2013 to 2026 | - | $44,550,000$44.5m |
| 09 | Dmitry Orlov | Defenseman | 10 | 2013 to 2022 | - | $37,590,000$37.6m |
| 10 | Lars Eller | Center | 15 | 2008 to 2022 | - | $36,298,171$36.3m |
| 11 | Marcus Johansson | Center | 13 | 2010 to 2022 | - | $35,516,828$35.5m |
| 12 | Thomas Wilson | Right Wing | 11 | 2012 to 2023 | - | $35,142,886$35.1m |
| 13 | Carl Hagelin | Left Wing | 12 | 2011 to 2022 | - | $31,825,000$31.8m |
| 14 | Anthony Mantha | Right Wing | 9 | 2015 to 2023 | - | $31,273,876$31.3m |
| 15 | Ilya Kovalchuk | Left Wing | 3 | 2018 to 2020 | - | $19,450,000$19.5m |
| 16 | Connor Brown | Right Wing | 6 | 2017 to 2022 | - | $17,100,000$17.1m |
| 17 | Conor Sheary | Left Wing | 8 | 2015 to 2022 | - | $12,708,306$12.7m |
| 18 | Nick Jensen | Defenseman | 7 | 2016 to 2022 | - | $12,225,000$12.2m |
| 19 | Michal Kempny | Defenseman | 6 | 2016 to 2021 | - | $11,600,000$11.6m |
| 20 | Trevor Van Riemsdyk | Defenseman | 9 | 2014 to 2022 | - | $10,756,237$10.8m |
| 21 | Erik Gustafsson | Defenseman | 8 | 2015 to 2022 | - | $9,048,561$9.0m |
| 22 | Matt Irwin | Defenseman | 12 | 2010 to 2021 | - | $8,226,993$8.2m |
| 23 | Garnet Hathaway | Right Wing | 8 | 2015 to 2022 | - | $8,195,898$8.2m |
| 24 | Nic Dowd | Center | 10 | 2015 to 2024 | - | $8,149,235$8.1m |
| 25 | Daniel Carr | Left Wing | 7 | 2014 to 2020 | - | $2,835,799$2.8m |
| 26 | Connor McMichael | Center | 4 | 2020 to 2023 | - | $2,696,854$2.7m |
| 27 | Daniel Sprong | Right Wing | 5 | 2017 to 2021 | - | $2,492,857$2.5m |
| 28 | Michael Sgarbossa | Center | 8 | 2010 to 2021 | - | $2,263,592$2.3m |
| 29 | Zachary Fucale | Goaltender | 5 | 2015 to 2021 | - | $1,637,696$1.6m |
| 30 | Vitek Vanecek | Goaltender | 3 | 2019 to 2021 | - | $1,468,815$1.5m |
| 31 | Garrett Pilon | Center | 2 | 2020 to 2021 | - | $774,136 |
| 32 | Phillipe Maillet | Center | 1 | 2020 | - | $700,000 |
Washington Capitals money by season
What these careers were paid, year by year
2018-19 is the biggest year on this chart at $114,261,301. A roster assembled recently draws a spike rather than a run: the chart follows the men who are here now, wherever they were paid it.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the highest paid Washington Capitals player?
Alex Ovechkin. His contracts are worth $170,720,893 across 21 seasons from 2005 to 2025.
What have Washington Capitals players earned in total?
$1,054,249,028 across 32 careers, an average of $32,945,282 each. That is 4.0% of every dollar in the NHL file.
How does that rank?
Washington Capitals is 5 of 32 franchises by total career money, behind New York Islanders on $1,090,496,018 and ahead of St Louis Blues on $1,047,460,243.
How many are still being paid?
1 of the 32 have a figure against the 2026-27 season.
Is this the Washington Capitals payroll?
No. It is career money carried by the current roster: everything each man's contracts have been worth across every season, at this franchise or anywhere else. A payroll is one season and this is every one of them.
The franchises either side
The same table, 16 other franchises
Tampa Bay Lightning · Montreal Canadiens · Anaheim Ducks · New York Islanders · St Louis Blues · Boston Bruins · Colorado Avalanche · Edmonton Oilers · Carolina Hurricanes · Calgary Flames · Dallas Stars · Detroit Red Wings · Seattle Kraken · New Jersey Devils · Ottawa Senators · Winnipeg Jets · All-time NHL earnings
Where to next
The seasons, the franchises and the rest of the league
Every season
- 2007-08 NHL payrolls
- 2008-09 NHL payrolls
- 2009-10 NHL payrolls
- 2010-11 NHL payrolls
- 2011-12 NHL payrolls
- 2012-13 NHL payrolls
- 2013-14 NHL payrolls
- 2014-15 NHL payrolls
- 2015-16 NHL payrolls
- 2016-17 NHL payrolls
- 2017-18 NHL payrolls
- 2018-19 NHL payrolls
- 2019-20 NHL payrolls
- 2020-21 NHL payrolls
- 2021-22 NHL payrolls
- 2022-23 NHL payrolls
- 2023-24 NHL payrolls
- 2024-25 NHL payrolls
- 2025-26 NHL payrolls
- 2026-27 NHL payrolls
Every franchise
- Tampa Bay Lightning career earnings
- Montreal Canadiens career earnings
- Anaheim Ducks career earnings
- New York Islanders career earnings
- St Louis Blues career earnings
- Boston Bruins career earnings
- Colorado Avalanche career earnings
- Edmonton Oilers career earnings
- Carolina Hurricanes career earnings
- Calgary Flames career earnings
- Dallas Stars career earnings
- Detroit Red Wings career earnings
- Pittsburgh Penguins career earnings
- Toronto Maple Leafs career earnings
- Arizona Coyotes career earnings
- Los Angeles Kings career earnings
- Nashville Predators career earnings
- Chicago Blackhawks career earnings
- Philadelphia Flyers career earnings
- San Jose Sharks career earnings
- Columbus Blue Jackets career earnings
- Vancouver Canucks career earnings
- Florida Panthers career earnings
- Vegas Golden Knights career earnings
- Minnesota Wild career earnings
- New York Rangers career earnings
- Buffalo Sabres career earnings
- Seattle Kraken career earnings
- New Jersey Devils career earnings
- Ottawa Senators career earnings
- Winnipeg Jets career earnings