This is no surprise but Alex Ovechkin has made the most money during his time with the Washington Capitals. And he deserves every penny.
One year after Ovechkin was drafted he signed a three year entry level contract worth $11,502,600. He won a Calder Trophy as rookie of the year that season with 52 goals and 54 assists for 106 points.
In 2007-08 he was in that final year of his entry level deal and began to really heat up. Then General Manager George McPhee and team owner Ted Leonsis knew that they had drafted a star and were ready to give the great eight his due.
He got it in the form of 13 years and $124 million. He would have a cap hit of $9,538,462 during those years. That season saw Ovechkin lead the league in goals with a career high 65, win his first Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP and take the city of D.C. by storm leading the Caps to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
He continued to make everyone proud by following that up with 56 goals, another Hart Trophy and taking the Caps past the first round of the playoffs and taking Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games.
The next year saw Ovi have a 50 goal season and the Caps won the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best regular season team. Unfortunately what followed was heartbreak and questions.
The Caps got bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens after leading in the series 3-1. The next two years saw Ovechkin only score 32 and 38 goals, respectively.
Then the NHL went to a lockout and once that ended Ovechkin bounced back with 32 goals in 48 games. He took home his third Hart Trophy that year.
Ovechkin continued to lead the league in goals in six of his next seven seasons. In 2017-18 he bounced back from a 33 goal season the year before to 49 goals, two hat tricks to open the season and it all culminated in the Caps first Stanley Cup and the Summer of Ovi.
Ovechkin followed that Cup run with 51 goals the next season and 48 goals before the pandemic. Following the 2021 COVID shortened season, the mega contract was set to expire and Ovechkin needed a new deal.
Both sides agreed to five years and $47.5 million to finish his career with the Caps and ensure everybody is all in on the chase towards Wayne Gretzky. He has a cap hit of $9.5 million a year and sits at 780 goals so it’s a matter of not if but when.