The NHL's top 10 earners for the 2021 - 2022 season.

When it comes to the National Hockey League most of the debates about player salaries these days tend to focus around their respective cap hits. That makes a great deal of sense when you consider the fact that, in the salary cap era of the league, a players cap hit is the number used to determine what other moves a team can make or what additional players can be slotted onto the roster.

That being said though salary cap numbers can often be very deceiving and can actually conceal how much or how little a player is actually earning in terms of salary in a given year. Although the cap hit and the average annual value (AAV) remain fixed throughout the length of an NHL contract, the salary does not. This means that from year to year the highest earners in the league can vary wildly, and you might be surprised by where some of the names on this list have landed.

Today we're going to take a look at the top 10 highest earners in the National Hockey League not in terms of their AAV or their cap hit, but in terms of the actual cash that they will bring home this season. Of course all of these numbers are before taxes are applied and before agents take their slice of the pie as well, so the actual end result could vary considerably.

#1 Erik Karlsson - San Jose Sharks

In spite of having a cap hit of $11.5 million over the length of his contract Karlsson will cost the Sharks much more than that for this particular season. The star defenseman will bring home a whopping $14.5 million in actual salary this season, making him the highest paid player in the league.

Tie-#2 Tyler Seguin - Dallas Stars

Once again we have a player earning a much higher salary than his cap hit in Tyler Seguin. The Stars forward comes in at a cap hit of just $9.85 million this season, but his actual salary of $13 million has him tied for 2nd place.

Tie-#2 Carey Price - Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price may not be playing for the Montreal Canadiens at the moment but they are still paying him a whopping $13 million in salary this season. That is considerably higher than the $10.5 million cap hit Price currently carries, a number many believe is already quite high.

Tie-#2 Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers

At $13 million in salary this season McDavid is earning just slightly over his cap hit of $12.5 million. That contract will no doubt keep him on this list for some seasons to come, but I don't think anyone would argue that he does not belong here. Especially not after 13 points in his first 5 games of the season.

Tie-#2 Artemi Panarin - New York Rangers

 Panarin is in the second highest earning year of his contract with the Rangers, a contract that comes in at a cap hit of $11.642 million per season. That is good enough to land him in a four way tie for second place at $13 million in salary earnings.

Tie-#6 Sergei Bobrovsky - Florida Panthers

Bobrovsky is in the highest earning years of his deal, a deal that carries a cap hit of $10 million per season. He has rewarded the Florida Panthers for their investment of $12 million in actual salary thus far with some very strong performances to start the season, recording a .944 save percentage over 3 games.

Tie-#6 Mark Stone - Las Vegas Golden Knights

Much like Carey Price, Golden Knights forward Mark Stone is currently on the sidelines. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights it comes in the highest earning year of his deal with Stone earning a cool $12 million this season in spite of his cap hit of just $9.5 million.

Tie-#6 Nikita Kucherov - Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning can empathize with the Golden Knights I'm sure as they are also paying Kucherov a cool $12 million this season as he sits injured on the sidelines. Like Stone, Kucherov carries a cap hit of $9.5 million and like Stone he is currently in the highest earning year of his deal.

Tie-#9 Drew Doughty - Los Angeles Kings

Nothing complicated about this one. Doughty is currently on a cap hit of $11 million per season for the Kings and he will earn $11 million in actual salary for the remaining length of his deal which expires after the 2026 - 2027 season. Doughty was also injured on Friday night which may indicate there is some kind of curse at work here.

Tie-#9 Andrei Vasilevskiy - Tampa Bay Lightning.

Regarded by many as the best goaltender in the world, Vasilevskiy is the in 2nd highest earning year of his contract that carries an average annual value and cap hit of $9.5 million. That deal will see him earning $11 million in salary both this season and the next, so we may see him on this list again next season.