{"id":839813,"date":"2026-09-07T19:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T19:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/839813\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T19:58:14","slug":"which-nhl-teams-are-paying-their-defensemen-the-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/839813\/","title":{"rendered":"Which NHL Teams Are Paying Their Defensemen The Most?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cale Makar<\/a>\u2019s contract sent shockwaves through the NHL.<\/p>\n

His record-breaking $163.2MM eight-year contract, which carries a $20.4MM cap hit, is the AAV is the highest in NHL history, surpassing the $18.8MM record mark Macklin Celebrini<\/a> set earlier this offseason and Leo Carlsson<\/a>\u2019s $18MM before that. However, this could obviously be subject to change with a Quinn Hughes<\/a> deal looming.<\/p>\n

In 2027-28, the Avalanche\u2019s payroll will cap out to $101MM as of right now, nearly $42MM of that is the highest amount of money going towards any NHL team\u2019s defense corps for that season. But that\u2019s not next season, the Avs are 14th among NHL teams in cap hit paid to defensemen for 2026-27, so who is paying their defense the most money? Today we\u2019ll highlight which teams are paying their defensive corps the most within the $104MM NHL salary cap.<\/p>\n

1. Vegas Golden Knights \u2014 $41.1MM<\/p>\n

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Alex Pietrangelo<\/a> ($8.8MM, IR), Rasmus Andersson<\/a> ($8.5MM), Shea Theodore<\/a> ($7.425MM), Noah Hanifin<\/a> ($7.35MM), Jeremy Lauzon<\/a> ($4MM), Brayden McNabb<\/a> ($3.65MM)<\/p>\n

Vegas is no stranger to spending as much as it can to ensure the team can acquire top-tier talent. They\u2019ve demonstrated that in trades since the teams inagural season. By a far mile, this methodology has worked for them, but definitely has seen them needing to be savvy in recent years with their spending, having traded Pavel Dorofeyev<\/a> away this offseason and yet still the team is $8MM over the NHL\u2019s salary cap. Despite that, in paying Andersson and Lauzon long-term deals this offseason, Pietrangelo is on his last year of the contract he signed back in 2020, Vegas ideally will place him on LTIR to start the season to become compliant.<\/p>\n

2. New York Rangers \u2014 $36.75MM<\/p>\n

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Adam Fox<\/a> ($9.5MM), Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> ($7MM), Sean Durzi<\/a> ($6MM), Marcus Pettersson<\/a> ($5.5MM), Braden Schneider<\/a> ($5.5MM)<\/p>\n

The Rangers did not disappoint in retooling their roster this offseason, and the defense was certainly a highlight of that shift. New York brought in two new faces in Durzi, via the Trocheck trade to Utah, and Pettersson from Vancouver, while letting go of William Borgen<\/a>\u2019s $4.1MM in a deal to Boston. Those moves highlighted a $6MM difference between who went in and out on the blue line. Four of their defenders, including Schneider, are on a one-year contract, so that will be an area to keep an eye on as the season progresses.<\/p>\n

3. New Jersey Devils \u2014 $36.5MM<\/p>\n

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Dougie Hamilton<\/a> ($9MM), Luke Hughes<\/a> ($9MM), Brett Pesce<\/a> ($5.5M), Brenden Dillon<\/a> ($4MM), Johnathan Kovacevic<\/a> ($4MM), Jonas Siegenthaler<\/a> ($3.4MM)<\/p>\n

Not far from Manhattan, the Devils are also boasting a highly-paid blue line. New Jersey had an eventful offseason, part of which came with a huge move to revamp the roster, trading away their former second-overall pick in Simon Nemec<\/a> to the Calgary Flames. Calgary extended the 22-year-old foe five years at a $7.25MM cap hit. Had Nemec signed that in Newark, the Devils would be first on this list.\u00a0Hughes, at the mere age of 22, is by far the youngest and has the longest-tenured contract until 2032, and that cap hit should age well. If the Devils want<\/p>\n

4. Los Angeles Kings \u2014 $35.88MM<\/p>\n

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Drew Doughty<\/a> ($11MM), Brandt Clarke<\/a> ($7.4MM), Cody Ceci<\/a> ($4.5MM), Michael Anderson<\/a> ($4.125MM), Brian Dumoulin<\/a> ($4MM), Joel Edmundson<\/a> ($3.85MM)<\/p>\n

This team didn\u2019t see many changes among their defense this past offseason, but one thing that has always been certain for LA is they\u2019ll benefit from Doughty\u2019s presence, at least for one more year, taking up 30% of the Kings\u2019 payroll on the blue line. Then, from there, who knows where they\u2019ll allocate his cap hit after this season? Like the Devils, the Kings have many vets with one young stud defender signed to a longer-term deal set to take the reins. Enter year one of five for\u00a0Clarke\u2019s extension, signed this offseason, where all signs point to the former eighth-overall pick emerging as the \u2018next guy\u2019 in line for the Kings\u2019 defensive corps.<\/p>\n

5. Minnesota Wild \u2014 $35.58MM<\/p>\n

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Brock Faber<\/a> ($8.5MM), Quinn Hughes<\/a> ($7.85MM), Jared Spurgeon<\/a> ($7.575MM), Jonas Brodin<\/a> ($6MM), Olli Maatta<\/a> ($3.5MM)<\/p>\n

It might look like the fifth-highest paying corps in the league, but in the land of 10,000 lakes, there is some fog on the horizon regarding this blue line. Outside of Faber, no defender is signed past 2028, and regarding the top-four, two of them are slated to become UFA\u2019s, with the biggest story being Quinn and how much he\u2019ll take, with Makar\u2019s recent contract extension being a record-breaking number. Out of every defenseman listed here, Quinn\u2019s 2025-26 production of 76 points was the most cost-effective offensive output based on their AAV, with a $107K cost-per-point, a stat that the Wild will enjoy for at least one season longer.<\/p>\n

6. Montreal Canadiens \u2014 $35.06MM
7. Edmonton Oilers \u2014 $35.02MM
8. Washington Capitals \u2014 $34.65MM
9. Tampa Bay Lightning \u2014 $34.27MM
10. Boston Bruins \u2014 $33.55MM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cale Makar\u2019s contract sent shockwaves through the NHL. His record-breaking $163.2MM eight-year contract, which carries a $20.4MM cap…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[393,4828,4822,4823,385,99,1793],"class_list":["post-839813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-vegas-golden-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}