Who Controls the NHL’s Billions? Top Agents, Biggest Agencies and Stars Who Negotiated Without One

Who represents the most NHL players? Explore the biggest agents and agencies by active contract value and player count, plus famous NHL stars who negotiated their own deals.

Christian Haines

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November 9, 2026

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5–7 minutes

Who represents the most NHL players? Which agents have the biggest financial portfolios? And what happens when a superstar decides to negotiate without an agent? HockeyGamedayTV examined PuckPedia’s active-contract leaderboards and some of hockey’s most notable self-negotiated deals to break down the business behind the game.

By HockeyGamedayTV | November 9, 2026. All dollar figures are in U.S. dollars.

The NHL’s top 10 individual agents by contract value

Pat Brisson of CAA Sports sits at the top of the individual agent rankings. His 78 active contracts carry a combined face value of approximately $1.769 billion, according to PuckPedia. Craig Oster of Newport Sports Management is second at approximately $1.394 billion.

Rank	Player agent	Active contracts	Total contract value
1	Pat Brisson	78	$1.769B
2	Craig Oster	66	$1.394B
3	Brian & Scott Bartlett	52	$778.51M
4	J.P. Barry	63	$738.80M
5	Daniel Milstein	69	$669.67M
6	Patrick Morris	46	$636.51M
7	Andy Scott	27	$568.58M
8	Allain Roy	61	$564.93M
9	Gerry Johannson	53	$468.56M
10	Judd Moldaver	17	$457.63M

Source: PuckPedia’s NHL agent leaderboard, checked November 9, 2026. Totals are rounded.

Why the contract values matter

Brisson’s reported total is about $374 million ahead of Oster’s. But these numbers do not represent how much the agents earn. They reflect the full face value of their clients’ active NHL contracts, including money scheduled across future seasons—not personal commissions, current-year salaries or cash remaining to be paid.

An agent handling fewer elite long-term deals can have a larger total-value portfolio than someone representing more players on smaller contracts. That is why rankings by dollar value look different from rankings by contract count.

Which individual agents have the most active NHL contracts?

Pat Brisson also leads when the leaderboard is sorted by the number of active contracts. Daniel Milstein rises to second place with 69, ahead of Craig Oster’s 66. Three entries tie for ninth, so the table preserves that tie rather than excluding an agent.

Rank	Player agent	Active contracts
1	Pat Brisson	78
2	Daniel Milstein	69
3	Craig Oster	66
4	J.P. Barry	63
5	Allain Roy	61
6	Gerry Johannson	53
7	Brian & Scott Bartlett	52
8	Patrick Morris	46
T-9	Ian Pulver	33
T-9	Matt & Ryan Keator	33
T-9	Paul Capizzano	33

Milstein’s placement illustrates the difference between volume and contract size: he ranks second by active contract count, but fifth by total contract value.

Top 10 NHL agencies by active contracts

Agencies bring multiple representatives under one umbrella. Newport Sports Management leads the league by active contract count, followed by The·Team and CAA Sports. The table below is ranked by number of contracts—the dollar-value column is supplied for comparison, not used for ranking.

Rank	Agency	Active contracts	Total contract value
1	Newport Sports Management	158	$2.515B
2	The·Team	150	$2.083B
3	CAA Sports	142	$2.510B
4	Quartexx Management	107	$1.046B
5	Octagon Athlete Representation	105	$1.460B
6	RSG Hockey	83	$618.77M
7	Gold Star Sports Management	69	$669.67M
8	The Sports Corporation	62	$601.56M
9	Bartlett Hockey	52	$778.51M
10	The Will Sports Group	44	$476.04M

Source: PuckPedia agency rankings, checked November 9, 2026. Values are rounded. Individual agents and agencies should not be added together because agency totals include contracts represented by their agents.

Newport and CAA: a much closer financial race

Newport’s 158 active contracts carry a combined reported value of approximately $2.51477 billion. CAA has 142 active contracts worth about $2.51017 billion. That is a difference of only $4.60 million in overall value—even though Newport represents 16 more active contracts.

The·Team sits between Newport and CAA on the contract-count leaderboard with 150 contracts, while CAA ranks just behind Newport by total value. The two leaderboards tell different stories: volume of clients is not the same as total dollars under representation.

What about NHL players who negotiated without an agent?

For most NHL players, professional representation is the norm. Nevertheless, several prominent stars have handled specific contract negotiations without a traditional player agent. That does not necessarily mean they worked without advice from lawyers, family members or the NHL Players’ Association—or that they remained agent-free for their entire careers.

Alex Ovechkin — $124 million

In 2008, Alex Ovechkin agreed to a 13-year, $124 million extension with Washington. Ovechkin and his mother, Tatiana, were central to the negotiations without a traditional player agent. It remains one of the NHL’s most striking examples of a superstar helping negotiate a massive deal himself.

Drew Doughty — $88 million

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty handled negotiations for his eight-year, $88 million extension in 2018. He did not use a traditional player agent for that negotiation, although he received legal assistance—an important distinction when discussing players who represent themselves.

Dustin Brown — $47 million

Dustin Brown, another longtime Kings cornerstone, handled negotiations for his eight-year, $47 million extension in 2013. A strong working relationship with the organization was part of the context for that decision.

Nicklas Backstrom — $46 million

Backstrom negotiated his five-year, $46 million Washington Capitals extension in 2020 without a traditional agent. He also spoke about wanting to understand and participate in the process himself.

Martin Brodeur — $40 million

The legendary Devils goaltender became known for handling several of his own contracts, including a five-year deal reported at $40 million in 2001. Brodeur later employed representation, underlining why historical examples should not be confused with current agent status.

Other notable examples

Player	Notable self-negotiated contract
Patrick Marleau	$20M (2014)
Anthony Duclair	$14M (2024)
Nicklas Lidstrom	$6.2M (2010)
Derek Ryan	$1.8M (2023)
Eric Lindros	$1.55M base (2006), with potential bonuses

Duclair’s 2024 deal was worth $14 million, larger than his earlier $9 million agreement. These entries are not a definitive all-time top-10 ranking; they are documented examples of notable contracts negotiated without traditional representation.

How much money does a player agent actually make?

A combined portfolio of $1 billion in contracts is not the same as $1 billion in agency revenue. An agent’s fees are determined by the terms of the representation arrangement, and PuckPedia’s contract-value leaderboard does not report commissions.

Agents may also provide services beyond salary negotiations, from contract structure and market comparisons to endorsements and long-term career planning. Negotiating without one can reduce certain fees, but it also places more responsibility for an exceptionally complicated business decision on the player and any advisers they retain.

The bigger picture

Newport Sports leads agencies in player-contract volume. CAA nearly matches Newport’s total contract value despite having fewer contracts. Pat Brisson tops the individual dollar-value list, while Daniel Milstein has the second-largest count of active contracts. And a handful of NHL stars have demonstrated that high-value deals can sometimes be reached without a traditional agent.

For fans, the takeaway is simple: the NHL’s money game is about much more than the headline salary. Who negotiates, how contracts are structured, and the relationship between players and management can help shape a franchise’s future.

HGDTV wants to know

If you were an NHL superstar negotiating a $100 million contract, would you hire an agent—or would you try to negotiate the deal yourself? Tell us which side you’re on.

Sources and methodology

Leaderboard counts and values were checked November 9, 2026 and can change as contracts begin, expire or are updated. All totals are USD. Full contract values are not remaining salary obligations, cap hits or agent commissions. Historical self-negotiated contracts do not establish a player’s current representation status.