No team with such a top-heavy roster as Edmonton Oilers has won Stanley Cup in salary cap era

No team with such a top-heavy roster as the 2025-26 Edmonton Oilers has won the Stanley Cup in the NHL’s salary cap era.

When I say “top heavy,” I’m referring to the cap hit of the top four players — the Core Four — of Stanley Cup winning teams.

I’m not digging into this to whine and moan about how much Edmonton’s superstars are making. Other NHL teams would kill to have Connor McDavid , Leon Draisaitl or Evan Bouchard and would gladly pay them as much and more than the Oilers are now doing.

But however outstanding Edmonton’s hockey aces are, the fact remains than in the 20 years of the NHL’s salary cap era, no team has won the Cup paying such a high percentage of the annual league salary cap to its Core Four players.

The average cap hit of the Core Four on the twenty Cup-winning