The Edmonton Oilers are less than a month away from opening up the 2024-25 NHL season, and with that comes a lot of new faces on the roster.
Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson and GM Stan Bowman had quite a busy offseason, adding a plethora of players in free agency and making more than a few trades to shuffle things around. Edmonton also lost quite a few players who took up roster spots, including a pair of young players, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, who signed offer sheets with the St. Louis Blues.
In the end, the Oilers still managed to spend right up to the NHL’s $88 million salary cap ceiling.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid holds the top spot on the Oilers when it comes to AAV, carrying a $12.5 million cap hit, but due to how his contract is structured, he will be making slightly less than that, with a total salary of $10 million this upcoming season.
Because of this, Darnell Nurse will take home the most money in total salary next season, with a total haul of $12 million set to be paid to the veteran defenceman this season.
While it’s Nurse who will be making the most this year, the team lead will once again shift when Leon Draisaitl’s massive new extension kicks in for the 2025-26 season, where he will take home a whopping $16.5 million in total salary.
Here is a complete breakdown of how much each Oilers player will make in total salary during the 2024-25 season:
| Player | Cap hit | Base salary | Bonuses | Total salary |
| Darnell Nurse | $9,250,000 | $12,000,000 | $0 | $12,000,000 |
| Connor McDavid | $12,500,000 | $3,000,000 | $7,000,000* | $10,000,000 |
| Leon Draisaitl | $8,500,000 | $8,000,000 | $0 | $8,000,000 |
| Zach Hyman | $5,500,000 | $7,700,000 | $0 | $7,700,000 |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | $5,125,000 | $6,250,000 | $0 | $6,250,000 |
| Mattias Ekholm | $6,000,000 | $6,240,000 | $0 | $6,240,000 |
| Evander Kane | $5,125,000 | $2,750,000 | $2,000,000* | $4,750,000 |
| Evan Bouchard | $3,900,000 | $4,300,000 | $0 | $4,300,000 |
| Viktor Arvidsson | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $0 | $4,000,000 |
| Jeff Skinner | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $0 | $3,000,000 |
| Adam Henrique | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $0 | $3,000,000 |
| Brett Kulak | $2,750,000 | $2,500,000 | $0 | $2,500,000 |
| Stuart Skinner | $2,600,000 | $2,500,000 | $0 | $2,500,000 |
| Mattias Janmark | $1,450,000 | $1,450,000 | $0 | $1,450,000 |
| Corey Perry | $1,150,000 | $1,150,000 | $250,000^ | $1,150,000 |
| Connor Brown | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $0 | $1,000,000 |
| Vasily Podkolzin | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $0 | $1,000,000 |
| Calvin Pickard | $1,000,000 | $850,000 | $150,000* | $1,000,000 |
| Josh Brown | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $0 | $1,000,000 |
| Ty Emberson | $950,000 | $950,000 | $0 | $950,000 |
| Derek Ryan | $900,000 | $900,000 | $0 | $900,000 |
| Troy Stecher | $787,500 | $775,000 | $0 | $775,000 |
| James Hamblin | $775,000 | $775,000 | $0 | $775,000 |
* – Denotes signing bonus
^ – Denotes performance bonus not yet attained