Credit: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
The NHL is a tough and violent league. Having the ability to stick around requires a unique set of skills that not many players have. Being a greybeard in the NHL means you are among those special players with gifts that separate you from the rest. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 10 oldest active NHL players going into the 2024-25 season.
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Trevor Lewis is about to begin his 17th season in the NHL and is on his second tour of duty with the Los Angeles Kings. A team with which he won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. He re-signed with the Kings on a one-year deal worth $800k. Lewis has 225 points in 974 games.
Derek Ryan began his NHL career at 29 and recently played in the Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers in 2023-24. He’s among the few players to play for the Alberta teams — the Calgary Flames and Oilers — and has 203 points in 570 games. Ryan is playing in the final season of a two-year deal he signed in 2023 that pays him $900k.
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T.J. Oshie has only played with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals in his career and is approaching his 10th season in the nation’s capital. He recently skated in his 1,000th game and has scored 302 goals and 695 points in 1,010 games. Oshie is playing in the final season of an eight-year extension he signed in 2017, which pays him $5.75 million annually.
Three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick returned “home” in 2023-24, signing as a free agent with the New York Rangers. The team he idolized growing up in Milford, Connecticut. Last year, he became the winningest American-born netminder in NHL history, which earned him a contract extension for 2024-25 worth $1.25 million. At 38, Quick’s resume is worthy of a Hall of Fame induction upon retirement.
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Evgeni Malkin is one of the best skaters to ever play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The three-time Stanley Cup champion is still one of the team’s top scorers and has two years left on his contract with an annual salary of $6.1 million. Even though his deal expires around his 40th birthday, there are rumors Malkin is interested in returning to Russia to play in the KHL when his NHL career is over.
Alex Ovechkin is only 43 goals away from the NHL record of 894 set by Wayne Gretzky. As 38, “The Great 8” has two seasons left on his current deal, which pays him $9.5 million. If it wasn’t for work stoppages and a global pandemic, Ovechkin might have already broken the goals record, but with two seasons left, that’s plenty of time to get 44 goals.
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Corey Perry signed with the Oilers in January 2024 and became the first player in NHL history to skate in the Stanley Cup Final with five teams. Thankfully, he won a championship with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, or he’d be winless in the Final. The Oilers liked what Perry brought to the team, inking him to a new contract valued at $1.15 million in July 2024.
Brent Burns is one of his generation’s most underappreciated defensemen. He has only won the Norris Trophy once. In addition to his offensive contributions, he’s also an iron man and hasn’t missed a game since the start of the 2014-15 season. Unfortunately, Burns has never won the Stanley Cup, losing in the 2016 Final, leaving a hole on his resume. He’s skating in the final season of an eight-year deal which pays him $2.7 million.
Ryan Suter is not only one of the oldest players under contract in the NHL for the 2024-25 season, but with 1,444 games, he’s the active leader in games played without his name on the Stanley Cup. Despite his age and decline in production, Suter hasn’t missed a game in six years. After three seasons with the Dallas Stars, he inked a one-year deal with the St. Louis Blues for $3 million.
Marc-Andre Fleury will have a farewell tour in 2024-25, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Minnesota Wild valued at $2.5 million. The three-time Stanley Cup champion is now one of four netminders to appear in 1,000 games (1,025) and ranks second all-time in wins with 561. In November, “The Flower” will turn 40 and become the league’s first 40-year-old in 2024-25.
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