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NHL · 32 FRANCHISES

NHL career earnings by franchise

$26,432,687,994 across 1,084 careers, the Tampa Bay Lightning the biggest single franchise at $1,137,819,273.

Career money carried by each roster as it stands: every man on the books, and everything his contracts have been worth across every season anywhere. It is not a payroll and it is not a wage bill, it is what the room has earned.

TOTAL $26.43bn
BIGGEST $1.14bn
FRANCHISES 32
CAREERS 1,084
TOP THREE HOLD 12.6%

The richest franchises

Career money earned by the players on them

Top three hold 12.6%

Tampa Bay Lightning $1.14bn Montreal Canadiens $1.10bn Anaheim Ducks $1.10bn New York Islanders $1.09bn Washington Capitals $1.05bn St Louis Blues $1.05bn Boston Bruins $1.03bn Colorado Avalanche $954m Edmonton Oilers $927m Carolina Hurricanes $909m Calgary Flames $886m Dallas Stars $885m Detroit Red Wings $844m Pittsburgh Penguins $843m Toronto Maple Leafs $836m

Every franchise ranked

Total career money, and what it comes to per career

32 franchises

# Franchise Careers Per career Top earner Span Career money
01 Tampa Bay Lightning 33 $34.5m Steven Stamkos 2000 to 2029 $1,137,819,273$1.14bn
02 Montreal Canadiens 37 $29.9m Shea Weber 2003 to 2029 $1,104,693,791$1.10bn
03 Anaheim Ducks 48 $22.8m Ryan Getzlaf 2002 to 2026 $1,095,316,379$1.10bn
04 New York Islanders 33 $33.0m Zach Parise 2000 to 2029 $1,090,496,018$1.09bn
05 Washington Capitals 32 $32.9m Alex Ovechkin 2005 to 2026 $1,054,249,028$1.05bn
06 St Louis Blues 28 $37.4m Colton Parayko 2005 to 2030 $1,047,460,243$1.05bn
07 Boston Bruins 36 $28.6m Patrice Bergeron 2003 to 2029 $1,030,553,222$1.03bn
08 Colorado Avalanche 38 $25.1m Nathan MacKinnon 2006 to 2030 $954,364,208$954.4m
09 Edmonton Oilers 29 $32.0m Connor McDavid 2006 to 2029 $926,659,046$926.7m
10 Carolina Hurricanes 32 $28.4m Brent Burns 2006 to 2029 $908,774,545$908.8m
11 Calgary Flames 35 $25.3m Jonathan Huberdeau 2006 to 2030 $885,984,085$886.0m
12 Dallas Stars 35 $25.3m Ryan Suter 2005 to 2028 $885,145,906$885.1m
13 Detroit Red Wings 36 $23.4m Brad Richards 2000 to 2025 $843,980,075$844.0m
14 Pittsburgh Penguins 38 $22.2m Sidney Crosby 2005 to 2027 $843,138,145$843.1m
15 Toronto Maple Leafs 31 $27.0m John Tavares 2002 to 2029 $836,458,686$836.5m
16 Arizona Coyotes 36 $22.7m Marian Hossa 1998 to 2027 $818,990,779$819.0m
17 Los Angeles Kings 33 $23.9m Drew Doughty 2005 to 2028 $788,123,956$788.1m
18 Nashville Predators 30 $26.3m Filip Forsberg 2005 to 2029 $787,616,910$787.6m
19 Chicago Blackhawks 40 $19.6m Patrick Kane 2005 to 2029 $783,490,568$783.5m
20 Philadelphia Flyers 40 $19.4m Sean Couturier 2005 to 2029 $775,036,479$775.0m
21 San Jose Sharks 36 $20.8m Erik Karlsson 1997 to 2029 $747,148,364$747.1m
22 Columbus Blue Jackets 35 $21.2m Johnny Gaudreau 2003 to 2028 $741,111,602$741.1m
23 Vancouver Canucks 47 $15.7m Oliver Ekman-Larsson 2008 to 2026 $737,489,941$737.5m
24 Florida Panthers 29 $25.4m Aleksander Barkov 1997 to 2029 $736,026,946$736.0m
25 Vegas Golden Knights 29 $24.7m Alex Pietrangelo 2008 to 2027 $715,750,506$715.8m
26 Minnesota Wild 27 $25.7m Jared Spurgeon 2003 to 2028 $695,248,875$695.2m
27 New York Rangers 28 $24.1m Mika Zibanejad 2007 to 2029 $676,025,118$676.0m
28 Buffalo Sabres 40 $16.1m Jeff Skinner 2005 to 2029 $645,651,158$645.7m
29 Seattle Kraken 30 $19.8m Jordan Eberle 2009 to 2026 $593,984,601$594.0m
30 New Jersey Devils 29 $19.0m Dougie Hamilton 2006 to 2029 $551,512,101$551.5m
31 Ottawa Senators 30 $16.9m Claude Giroux 2007 to 2027 $505,932,371$505.9m
32 Winnipeg Jets 24 $20.4m Blake Wheeler 2008 to 2027 $488,455,069$488.5m

Per career is the total divided by the number of careers in it, and it reorders the table: St Louis Blues pays $37,409,294 a career, against a ranking by total that is led by Tampa Bay Lightning.

Frequently asked questions

Which NHL franchise has the richest roster?

Tampa Bay Lightning, $1,137,819,273 across 33 careers, an average of $34,479,372 each.

How is a franchise total worked out?

Every career on the current roster, added together across every season each man has been paid anywhere. It is career money carried by a roster rather than a historical payroll, so a player who earned most of it at another franchise brings all of it with him.

Which franchise pays the best per career?

St Louis Blues, $37,409,294 per career across 28 of them.

Which franchise is bottom?

Winnipeg Jets, $488,455,069 across 24 careers.

Where to next

The seasons, the franchises and the rest of the league

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