Once teams got past their starting 20, owners tightened their financial belts and largely went with small-salary players for the rest of the draft. That tact leaves multi-millionaires like Danny Briere, Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat, among a lot others, without teams as the draft’s 26th and final round is about to begin.
Shawn Horcoff, Frankfurt
Ales Hemsky, Gothenberg
Still, occasionally during the last five rounds, there was a big check written. Here’s a look at the highest-paid players picked in rounds 21 through 25.
Round 21:
- Mike Green, D, Paris, $5.25 million
- Jonas Hiller, G, Copenhagen, $4.5 m
- Simon Gagne, LW, Frankfurt, $3.5 m
- Matt Greene, D, Bratislava, $2.95 m
Round 22:
- Jan Hejda, D, Helsinki, $3.25 m
- Bryan Allen, D, Geneva, $2.9 m
- Derek Morris, D, London, $2.75 m
- Paul Gaustad, C, Madrid, $2.3 m
Round 23:
- Ales Hemsky, RW, Gothenberg, $4.1 m
- Pierre-Marc Bouchard, LW, Bern, $4.08 m
Round 24:
- Shawn Horcoff, C, Frankfurt, $5.5 m
- Pavel Kubina, D, $3.85 m
- Douglas Murray, D, Bern, $2.5 m
- Matt Hunwick, D, Minsk, $1.55 m
Round 25:
- Wojtek Wolski, RW, Helsinki, $3.8 m
- Jeff Schultz, D, Edinburgh, $2.75
