The list of NHL blueliners earning the most money has changed quite a bit in a couple of weeks

Given that the NHL just came off of a COVID-shortened season and the salary cap remained relatively flat, some of the recent signings have come as a surprise. There was plenty of talk that new salaries would remain fairly low, but that hasn't been the case at all. And, defencemen seem to be cashing in big time lately, with the list of the top 10 highest earning blueliners in the NHL changing drastically in just a couple of weeks. Let's take a look.

San Jose's Erik Karlsson and LA's Drew Doughty remain one and two respectively. Karlsson earns $11.5 million per season, while Doughty gets $11 million. This puts both among the top paid players at any position in the NHL.

Taking over the third spot now is Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Werenski has one season left on his current contract with a $5 million cap hit. After that, he will almost double his AAV for the next six seasons, earning $9.58 million per year. His former teammate, Seth Jones, is in a similar situation. Jones, who is now with the Chicago Blackhawks, has one season left on his contract that pays him $5.4 million per season. After that, he will earn $9.5 million per season for the next eight years, putting him in the fourth spot.

Another new contract now occupies the fifth spot. Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers will earn $5.6 million for next season. His AAV will then balloon to $9.25 million for the next eight. Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, who was just a few weeks ago in the third overall spot, drops to sixth with an annual cap hit of $9.06 million. Spots seven, eight and nine are a tie at $9 million per season. First we have Dougie Hamilton and his new contract with New Jersey. He'll earn the same amount as teammate PK Subban. Also in that spot in Colorado's Cale Makar, who just signed his new deal.

In the 10th overall spot now is Alex Pietrangelo, who is earning $8.8 million per season. It's interesting to note that Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars entered the top 10 just a couple of weeks ago after getting a new deal worth $8.45 million per season. He's since been pushed out.

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