The Toronto Maple Leafs are widely known as one of the wealthiest teams in the NHL and according to Forbes’ most valuable teams list they remain in the top three.
Ranking third out of all 30 teams, the Leafs are reportedly worth a cool $1.1 billion. Even though they are north of the billion dollar mark, they have experienced a 4.4% drop in value in comparison to this time last year.
The New York Rangers topped the list at $1.25 billion, a 4.2% increase, and the Montreal Canadiens sit at number two after a 4.7% drop to $1.12 billion.
Unsurprisingly, just one season after all Canadian teams missed the playoffs, all seven dropped in value.
The western-most teams rank as the next three most valuable Canadian teams.
The Vancouver Canucks are seventh in the league worth $700 million, a 6.1% drop — the largest drop in the league — the Edmonton Oilers (14th) dropped 2.3% to $445 million, and the Calgary Flames are two spots lower at 16 worth $410 million after a 5.8% drop.
The Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets round out the Canadian teams at 20 and 21 respectively. The Senators dropped four per cent to $355 million and the Jets $340 million is down three per cent from last year.
Rounding out the bottom of Forbes’ list are the Carolina Hurricanes. The perennial “poor” team is worth $230 million after climbing 2.2% from last year.
The Florida Panthers and the New York Islanders increased their value the most over the last 12 months.
The Panthers saw the largest jump, increasing a whopping 26%, but their $235 million valuation is only higher than the Hurricanes. The Islanders jumped up 18% to $385 million which is 18th highest in the league.
