john tavares toronto maple leafs

John Tavares will soon become second $100M player in Toronto Maple Leafs history

Think long and hard for a second about the richest player to ever play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto has had no shortage of stars come through town, but who's the one with the most money over the course of their career? Mats Sundin? Phil Kessel? Eric Lindros?

Hold your guesses, because it's actually Joe Thornton, who spent one season with the Blue and White back in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign where the team played the entire season in front of empty arenas due to COVID-19 prevention measures.

Over the course of his career, Thornton racked up an estimated $110,637,195, according to CapFriendly, the 12th most money in NHL history.

Only 16 players in the league have ever made over $100 million in their career, with seven more players set to hit the century mark this season.

But so far, Thornton is the only player with $100 million in career earnings to play for the Leafs, until John Tavares is set to join that club midway through next season.

Currently, Tavares has made $95,141,463 through his 14 seasons in the NHL, with two years left on his contract with Toronto.

Signing a $77 million, seven-year deal in Toronto back in 2018, Tavares will make $7.95 million over each of the next two seasons in salary, though his cap hit remains at $11 million even. He'll be just a few hundred thousand behind Thornton when it comes to career earnings at the end of his contract.

One day, Tavares' career earnings will likely be passed by Auston Matthews, who will have made $63 million in his career after this season, or Mitch Marner, who is set to hit $62 million.

But at least for now, Toronto's captain can parade around the locker room if he wishes, pointing to his bank account app and showing off in front of his teammates.

Lead photo by

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports


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