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Salary Efficiency Analytics

Player value and contract efficiency for the 2025-2026 season

Total Players

747

With salary data

Elite Value

77

Top 10% value

Avg Value

7.0

League average

Best Team

COL

Highest avg value

Team Value Rankings

RankTeamPlayersAvg ValueElite ValueOverpaidTotal Salary
12216.0365$96.3M
22412.6355$93.7M
32511.9333$86.1M
42311.4534$84.6M
52511.0837$57.6M
62210.6223$88.8M
72810.1627$91.4M
82410.0437$86.9M
92510.0468$96.1M
10239.5745$94.0M
11259.3647$84.2M
12288.9747$103.3M
13217.6915$81.8M
14257.54310$100.4M
15246.8847$87.6M
16256.7537$90.4M
17235.9428$98.2M
18215.8917$53.7M
19195.4417$71.7M
20215.1617$83.8M
21225.0727$83.9M
22214.9326$74.7M
23234.5617$78.2M
24244.2519$93.0M
25234.0004$82.1M
26233.9438$86.1M
27233.5018$81.4M
28232.72210$91.8M
29232.4429$93.0M
30222.15111$92.6M
31221.0916$60.6M
3225-1.14011$76.8M

Methodology

Surplus Value Model: Instead of raw production/salary ratios (which over-reward entry-level contracts), we measure how much a player produces above or below what their salary level historically delivers. A player on a $12M deal who outproduces the typical $12M player is elite value — same as a rookie outproducing their salary band.

Historical Baseline: Expected production is derived from 5 seasons of league-wide data. All salaries are normalized to cap percentage so a $10M deal under an $81.5M cap is comparable to $10M under a $95M cap. Bins use the 40th percentile (not median) as “expected” — slightly forgiving so only clearly underperforming players get flagged.

Value Score: (Actual per-game production − Expected per-game production) × games-played weight. Positive = outperforming salary, negative = underperforming.

Value Tiers: Elite Value (90th+ percentile), Good Value (70-90th), Fair Value (30-70th), Overpaid (10-30th), Significantly Overpaid (<10th) — ranked within position group.

Minimum Threshold: 20 games for skaters, 10 games for goalies.