What is the NHL Minimum Salary? (Updated 2025)

The NHL salary cap was set to $88 million USD for the 2024-25 season. The player with the highest salary is none other than Auston Matthews at $16.7 million USD, a whopping 18.9% of the entire Maple Leafs payroll.

Matthews is a great goal scorer and has earned, keeping pace with none other than Alex Ovechkin. 

There's no doubt Matthews has his sights set on winning the big one, and hoist Lord Stanley over his head.

But what's most amusing about his salary is that the bulk is being paid in signing bonus ($15,925,000). His base salary is basically the minimum allowable for any player.

Note that the signing bonus is paid in lump at the beginning. Most NHLers will be offered a signing bonus, let alone the league average of $2.75 million.

For a detailed breakdown of the average NHL wage, make sure to check out my blog post on What is the Average NHL Salary?

As a reminder, the top payed player for the current season (2024-25) is Auston Matthews at $16.7 million, followed by last year's leader and Stanley Cup champion, Nathan MacKinnon at $16.5 million.

So, let’s get straight to answering your question…

What is the NHL Minimum Salary?

The minimum salary for NHL players is set at $775,000 USD for the 2024-25 season. This is the minimum a player can make having signed a one-way contract with any of the 32 NHL teams. The minimum salary was established by the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement which extends to the 2025-26 season.

As of season opener, there are 84 players signed to the league minimum contract.

Unlike the NBA, the NHL doesn’t have a pay scale based on tenure. That is, a 15-year veteran can be offered the same contract as a rookie - $775,000 USD.

The minimum salary is not tied to the any change in the overall team cap limit. But the upper cap limit is expected to grow year over year.

There are no real surprises for players signed to the league minimum. 

On occasion, you have decent players that are bought out from one team, and sign for the league minimum with another.

Since they are getting paid by both teams, it wouldn't make sense to overpay for an already paid player. Especially if they're at the tail-end of their career.

But should they prove themselves, it's possible they secure their spot again on next year's roster and get a pay increase along with it.

In some cases, teams will mix a fixed salary along with incentives if the player reaches certain milestones.

Minimum Salary By Year

The last collective bargaining agreement was signed in July 2013 and was extended in July 2020.

The extension included a minimum salary guarantee until the 2025-26 season.

As illustrated above, each couple of years there is a slight increase made to the guaranteed player minimum.

If NHL profits continue to grow, expect to see new all-time highs set both to the lower, upper and average player salaries.

My guess is that we’ll exceed $1.0 million USD base by 2030.  

In fact, by the 2027-28 season, the cap limit is expected to reach $113.5 millon USD. That's almost 29% greater than today's current limit. 

Can Players get paid less than minimum?

There are circumstances in which a player can get paid less than the minimum wage.

This applies to both players under two-way contracts or players signed during the season.

During their tenure in the NHL, they are paid a prorated amount no less than the minimum wage.

However, because they likely won’t spend the full 82-game season at the NHL level, they will earn a proportionate amount only.

Another situation in which a player gets paid less than minimum is if they are fined by the league and have to forfeit a portion of their salary.

In essence, players can never sign for less than the minimum wage, but they may never earn the full amount.

Finally, players sent back to their minor affiliate team (two-way contract), will resume the salary signed at the minor level.

And even the best minor league contracts are a fraction of the NHL minimum salary.

Final Thoughts

Surprisingly, the NHL minimum salary is comparable to that of other major sports leagues such as the NFL and MLB. 

The minimum NBA salary is set at more than $1.0 million USD but can only be offered to players with 0 years of NBA experience. When it comes to veteran players, their minimum allowable salary can balloon to $2.9 million USD.

In the end, NHL players can be certain they are being fairly compensated at the bottom end of the spectrum. 

Rookies that sign entry level contracts can work their tail off to earn that pay upgrade. 

Meanwhile, the minimum salary is all a veteran needs to prove his value and play in the best hockey league on earth.

For some, a chance to win the Stanley Cup is more important than getting an exceptional paycheck.

But let’s be real. Who wouldn’t want to earn Auston Matthews money ($16.7 million USD)?

We’d live comfortably for the rest of our lives just on that single-year salary alone.