Cody Ceci's Earnings Set to Eclipse Wayne Gretzky's All‑Time Total

Thanks to his latest contract signed earlier this summer with the LA Kings, the Ottawa-born defenseman has now accumulated over $50 million in salary since entering the NHL in 2013.

Of course, inflation, league revenue growth, and generational differences explain much of this surprising contrast.

But the simple fact that a supporting defenseman, never selected to an All-Star Game, has earned more in straight salary than the holder of nearly every offensive record in NHL history is enough to make hockey fans raise an eyebrow.

At his peak in the 1980s and 1990s, Wayne Gretzky was undoubtedly the face of global hockey. Yet, his career earnings never surpassed the $50 million mark in pure salary. The majority of his income came from endorsements and business ventures.

In contrast, Cody Ceci, a first-round pick in 2012, has never been a top-tier star. But he managed to stay in the NHL for over a decade, signing a series of lucrative contracts-especially in an era where the salary cap has skyrocketed, now exceeding $88 million.

Ceci has played over 800 regular-season NHL games, with stints in Ottawa, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Edmonton. A reliable defenseman, a good skater, but rarely spectacular, he has nonetheless always found a team willing to sign him.

His most recent contract, which guarantees him a few more seasons at a respectable salary, has officially pushed him past the legendary #99 in terms of gross earnings.

While some may see this kind of comparison as heresy, it must be viewed in context. Today's athletes operate in a completely different ecosystem: global TV rights, league revenue growth, massive broadcasting deals, higher salary floors All of this has transformed hockey's financial reality.

No, Cody Ceci is not superior to Wayne Gretzky-neither on the ice nor in hockey history. But financially speaking, he has just entered a surprising category, symbolic of a sport that has profoundly changed.

And for fans who see this statistic as a quirk of modern hockey, one thing is certain: the world of professional sports is far from done producing gaps as fascinating as they are baffling.