Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

At the end of his contract, Cody Ceci will have accumulated more money than Wayne Gretzky

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 12:30 AM ET

Wayne Gretzky is considered by many to be the greatest hockey player of all time. He enjoyed an illustrious 20 seasons in the NHL, playing 1,487 games in the process.

He is a fine example of pure talent, but also of durability. He left on his own terms with total earnings estimated at $46 million, which seemed astronomical in his day.

In 2025, things have changed. Average inflation of 2.56% between Gretzky’s last game and today has pushed salaries higher, in addition to recent salary cap increases.

In the end, many 2nd or 3rd line players or 2nd or 3rd pair defensemen can hope to reach $50 million in total earnings.

Such is the case with Cody Ceci, who signed a 4-year contract on July 1 worth $18 million. By the end of his contract, he will have accumulated over $51 million in earnings.

With his recent contract, Cody Ceci has now surpassed Wayne Gretzky in career earnings at just over $50,000,000.

Yes, I know about inflation and how misleading a statement that is but it’s still fascinating that Cody Ceci has made $50,000,000 playing hockey – Sergei (@berezin_goal) July 29, 2025

He’s not the first to top the list when it comes to the NHL’s best players. If he makes it to the end of the four years, he’ll have played 16 years in the NHL, four less than Gretzky. With the salary cap set to rise in the next few years, the gap between today’s average salaries and those of the late ’90s will widen exponentially, as teams will be able to pay higher salaries to the team’s best players, in addition to inflation. spacer title=’Overtime’] – Unusual scenario.

This morning, he arrived at the stadium as a member of the Orioles,

and in the evening, he pitched against the Baltimore club. https://t.co/un3d8R74k3– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) July 30, 2025

– Speaking of high salaries.

Frank Seravalli: I’d expect in the first few days of August the Connor McDavid negotiations to get underway – Bleacher Report (7/29)

– NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) July 29, 2025

– Quite a win for CF Montreal.

The #CFMTL put on a show in their first League Cup game, winning on penalties pic.twitter.com/sMtQ6SwA11

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) July 30, 2025

This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: