The annual Forbes’ list of the NHL’s most valuable franchises was recently released with the New York Rangers taking the top spot for the fifth consecutive year. The club has been valued at U.S. $1.65 billion, which is a six per cent increase over last year. The Toronto Maple Leafs were runners up with a value of $1.5 billion while the Montreal Canadiens were third at $1.34 billion followed by the Chicago Blackhawks at $1.085 billion and the Boston Bruins at a billion dollars.
All of the top five franchises are known as “original six’ NHL teams. However, the Rangers, Canadiens and Blackhawks all missed the playoffs last season and along with Toronto are all in non-playoff positions as of this December 16th. The top 10 is rounded out by the Los Angeles Kings at $850 million, the Philadelphia Flyers at $825 million, the Detroit Red Wings at $800 million, the Washington Capitals at $775 million and the Vancouver Canucks with a value of $740 million. According to Forbes, there were no new additions to this year’s top-10.
The rest of the franchises from number 11 to 31 are ranked in value as follows: 11-Pittsburgh Penguins ($665 M), 12-Dallas Stars ($600 M), 13-Vegas Golden Knights ($580 M), 14- Edmonton Oilers ($575 M), 15- New Jersey Devils ($550 M), 16-San Jose Sharks ($540 M), 17- St Louis Blues ($530 M), 18-New York Islanders ($520 M), 19- Minnesota Wild ($510 M), 20-Calgary Flames ($500 M), 21-Anaheim Ducks ($480 M), 22-Colorado Avalanche ($475 M), 23-Tampa Bay Lightning ($470 M), 24-Nashville Predators ($460 M), 25-Carolina Hurricanes ($450 M), 26-Ottawa Senators ($445 M), 27-Winnipeg Jets ($420 M), 28-Buffalo Sabres ($400 M), 29-Columbus Blue Jackets ($325 M), 30-Florida Panthers ($310 M), 31-Arizona Coyotes ($300 M).
All 31 franchises saw their value rise compared to 2018 with Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg increasing by just one per cent while New Jersey increased the most at 21 per cent followed by the New York Islanders at 18 per cent, Dallas and St. Louis at 14 per cent, Calgary at 11 per cent and Colorado at 10 per cent.
Forbes also released a partial list of the league’s best fans based on stadium attendance, the secondary ticket sales market, the teams’ merchandise sales, their social media reach and popularity and their local television ratings. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ fans ranked number one followed by supporters of Boston, Chicago and Vegas. The rest of the top 10 is as follows: 5-Buffalo, 6-Toronto, 7-St. Louis, 8-Winnipeg, 9-Nashville, 10-Detroit.
This is the third time Penguins’ fans have been ranked number one since the list originated in 2009. Pittsburgh, Boston and Chicago have all treated their fans to success over the past decade as Chicago won three Stanley Cups (2009/10, 2012/13 and 2014/15). Pittsburgh captured two (2015/16 and 2016/17) and the Bruins one (2010/11). The Bruins also played in another two Stanley Cup Final series (2012/13 and 2018/19). Also, Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Final in the club’s first year in the league in 2017/18.