Ouch, How Much NHL Players Really Keep After Taxes

Ouch, How Much NHL Players Really Keep After Taxes

The taxman. It has never been more taxing to play in the NHL, both literally and figuratively, and as the salaries skyrocket and money becomes a bigger story across the league, from high-tax areas losing players to low-tax areas becoming very attractive, the external dollars and cents matter.

And those taxes can hurt.

A player’s expenses start with the agent. Three to four percent of a player’s salary goes to their agent, and since 2018 that fee has come out of after-tax dollars rather than off the top. After paying for representation, the taxes are what really eat into the bottom line.

In Pittsburgh, a player pays approximately 46.9 percent of their total salary in taxes, which seems high but is nowhere near the roughly 55 percent a New York Rangers player pays.

For example, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. His contract carries an $8.7 million cap hit through the 2026-27 season. Pittsburgh ranks thirteenth of the league’s thirty-two markets for take-home pay, slightly better than mid-pack.

With the agent fee and all taxes considered, Crosby keeps a little under half of what his contract says he is worth.

Figures use the same model and assumptions as the league-wide table later in the article. Percentages are shares of the $8,700,000 cap hit.

The $4,274,816 he actually banks works out to 49 cents on the contract dollar, or roughly $50,900 for each of the 84 games on next season’s schedule. Crosby’s deal is also structured to lessen some of that. His 2026-27 compensation is $1,090,000 in salary against a $6,530,000 signing bonus, and that bonus is sourced to where he resides rather than allocated across every rink he visits — a distinction we’ll come to below, when we explain the jock tax.

The road-tax slice above therefore overstates what he will really owe.

If a player wants to keep the largest percentage of their contract, then they should sign on the dotted line with Dallas, Nashville, Seattle, Vegas, Florida (Sunrise), or Tampa Bay, where there is no state income tax.

On the other end of the spectrum, if money is not the primary motivating factor for a player, then they might be willing to pay the roughly 54.8 percent all-in tax rate to play in Anaheim, San Jose, or Los Angeles. California’s 13.3 percent top income tax rate tells only part of the story: the state also levies a 1.3 percent disability insurance tax that, since the wage cap was removed in 2024, applies to every dollar a player earns.

Further, a good number of NHL cities levy income or resident taxes on top of federal and state taxes. New York City has a 3.88 percent resident tax that affects players on the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils who choose to live within the city limits. The table later in this article assumes Rangers players live in the city, while the Islanders play in Elmont and the Devils in Newark, which is why it shows a home city tax for the Rangers alone.

Additionally, Philadelphia (3.74%), Pittsburgh (3%), Columbus (2.5%), Detroit (2.4%), and St. Louis (1%) all impose a city tax on residents.

Playing in Canada is no different. In fact, the combined tax rate for players in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal is over 53 percent of their annual pay. Players there are also subject to provincial taxes.

The Province of Quebec levies the highest provincial rate of any province with an NHL team, taxing all earnings over $132,245 at a whopping 25.75 percent. Because Quebec residents also receive a federal tax abatement, however, a player for the Montreal Canadiens is subject to a combined federal and provincial rate of 53.4 percent — just below the 53.6 percent paid by players in Ontario and British Columbia, where any salary over $265,545 is subject to a provincial tax of 20.5 percent.

Yet another tax levied against athletes is the so-called “jock tax,” imposed on visiting players and staff when they come to town for a game. The jock tax is usually calculated by “duty days,” or the total number of days an athlete works for the team, including the actual games, practices, team meetings, and any other team-related activities. The respective cities then count the number of days the athlete spent on those activities within their boundaries, determine the percentage of the athlete’s income earned there, and tax that amount at the state’s rate for highest income earners.

Currently, the NHL cities that impose their own non-resident jock tax are Philadelphia (3.43%), Columbus (2.5%), Detroit (1.2%), and St. Louis (1%). Pittsburgh formerly charged a jock tax, which it defined as a “Non-resident Sports Facility Usage Fee.” However, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), alongside the MLBPA and NFLPA, successfully sued the City of Pittsburgh over its 3 percent jock tax.

On September 25, 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled in National Hockey League Players Ass’n v. City of Pittsburgh that the tax violated the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution by unfairly discriminating against non-residents.

Of course, there are ways to circumvent some of these outrageous taxes. One technique many players use is to ask for large amounts of their contracts to be paid out in signing bonuses, as Crosby’s contract does. This is a genius contract structure because bonuses are taxed at the rate of the state or province where the player resides, which is often lower.

To reiterate, players who are lucky enough to reside in one of the nine states without a state income tax only have to pay federal income tax on signing bonuses.

But will the NHL’s coming cap on bonuses make the gap between high-tax and low-tax areas worse?

The massive tax savings generated by this structure prompted the NHL to introduce new restrictions in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), ratified on July 8, 2025, capping total signing bonuses at 60 percent of a contract’s total value. The cap applies to the aggregate across a contract rather than to any single season, and it binds only deals signed under the new agreement, which takes effect on September 16, 2026 and runs through the 2029-30 season.

Contracts like Crosby’s are grandfathered.

Another avenue of tax relief that players once had has since closed. Before 2018, a player could write off their agent’s fee as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended that category of deduction, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the suspension permanent, so NHL players — who are taxed as W-2 employees — can no longer deduct the agent fees paid on their salary or signing bonuses.

Endorsement work is the exception that survives: fees a player pays an agent to negotiate a marketing or sponsorship deal remain deductible against that 1099 income. Only the fee tied to negotiating the team contract is lost.

There is a lot to consider when an NHL free agent is deciding where to sign. For instance, a player signing a contract of $8 million with Dallas would need a $10.39 million deal with the Rangers to take home the same amount.

TeamMarketGross requiredPremium

Dallas StarsTexas$8.00M—

Carolina HurricanesNorth Carolina$8.44M+5.5%

Calgary FlamesAlberta$9.00M+12.5%

Boston BruinsMassachusetts$9.23M+15.3%

Washington CapitalsDistrict of Columbia$9.54M+19.3%

New York IslandersNew York$9.57M+19.6%

Toronto Maple LeafsOntario$10.07M+25.9%

Los Angeles KingsCalifornia$10.35M+29.4%

New York RangersNew York City$10.39M+29.9%

Further, the table below illustrates the ranking of the take-home pay that a player in each city making $8 million would receive.

RankTeamMarketHome taxesRoad taxesTotal taxTake-homeRate

1Dallas StarsDallas, TX$2,875,713$446,517$3,322,230$4,677,77041.5%

1Nashville PredatorsNashville, TN$2,875,713$446,517$3,322,230$4,677,77041.5%

3Seattle KrakenSeattle, WA$2,854,055$470,740$3,324,795$4,675,20541.6%

3Vegas Golden KnightsLas Vegas, NV$2,854,055$470,740$3,324,795$4,675,20541.6%

5Florida PanthersSunrise, FL$2,869,215$460,052$3,329,267$4,670,73341.6%

5Tampa Bay LightningTampa, FL$2,869,215$460,052$3,329,267$4,670,73341.6%

7Carolina HurricanesRaleigh, NC$3,220,903$347,727$3,568,630$4,431,37044.6%

8Colorado AvalancheDenver, CO$3,227,713$364,740$3,592,453$4,407,54744.9%

9Utah MammothSalt Lake City, UT$3,231,712$364,047$3,595,759$4,404,24144.9%

10Chicago BlackhawksChicago, IL$3,271,713$358,251$3,629,964$4,370,03645.4%

11Columbus Blue JacketsColumbus, OH$3,321,702$365,148$3,686,850$4,313,15046.1%

12St. Louis BluesSt. Louis, MO$3,331,712$359,437$3,691,149$4,308,85146.1%

13Pittsburgh PenguinsPittsburgh, PA$3,387,302$362,753$3,750,055$4,249,94546.9%

14Detroit Red WingsDetroit, MI$3,401,215$379,451$3,780,666$4,219,33447.3%

15Philadelphia FlyersPhiladelphia, PA$3,446,502$357,533$3,804,035$4,195,96547.6%

16Calgary FlamesCalgary, AB$3,844,200—$3,844,200$4,155,80048.1%

16Edmonton OilersEdmonton, AB$3,844,200—$3,844,200$4,155,80048.1%

18Boston BruinsBoston, MA$3,589,215$356,556$3,945,771$4,054,22949.3%

19Minnesota WildSt. Paul, MN$3,663,713$340,437$4,004,150$3,995,85050.1%

20Winnipeg JetsWinnipeg, MB$4,036,200—$4,036,200$3,963,80050.5%

21New Jersey DevilsNewark, NJ$3,761,703$318,061$4,079,764$3,920,23651.0%

21Washington CapitalsWashington, DC$3,761,703$318,061$4,079,764$3,920,23651.0%

23New York IslandersElmont, NY$3,773,703$318,061$4,091,764$3,908,23651.1%

24Buffalo SabresBuffalo, NY$3,741,215$356,556$4,097,771$3,902,22951.2%

25Montreal CanadiensMontreal, QC$4,268,200—$4,268,200$3,731,80053.4%

26Ottawa SenatorsOttawa, ON$4,284,200—$4,284,200$3,715,80053.6%

26Toronto Maple LeafsToronto, ON$4,284,200—$4,284,200$3,715,80053.6%

26Vancouver CanucksVancouver, BC$4,284,200—$4,284,200$3,715,80053.6%

29Anaheim DucksAnaheim, CA$4,022,054$364,798$4,386,852$3,613,14854.8%

29Los Angeles KingsLos Angeles, CA$4,022,054$364,798$4,386,852$3,613,14854.8%

29San Jose SharksSan Jose, CA$4,022,054$364,798$4,386,852$3,613,14854.8%

32New York RangersNew York City, NY$4,084,103$318,061$4,402,164$3,597,83655.0%

All figures assume an $8,000,000 salary. “Home taxes” combines federal income tax, payroll tax (FICA or CPP/EI), home state or provincial tax, and any home city tax. “Road taxes” combines jock tax owed to away states, away cities, and Canadian provinces, net of home-state credits, and assumes an 82-game schedule (41 away games); the move to 84 games in 2026-27 raises them slightly.

Jock tax is allocated by duty days, assuming roughly 200 duty days a season with about 42 percent of them spent on the road, and every layer is modeled at top marginal rates — which overstates the absolute tax somewhat, so the rankings and the gaps between markets are the more reliable output. The Washington row assumes residency in the District of Columbia; because federal law bars the District from taxing non-residents, Capitals players routinely establish residency in Virginia (5.75 percent), which would move the club up roughly ten places.

Signing bonuses, escrow, endorsement income, and Canadian Retirement Compensation Arrangements are not included in the model.

With the addition of two games to the schedule, this season will prove to be more taxing on the ice than ever. However, regardless of where their teams finish in the standings, players for the Ducks, Kings, Sharks, and Rangers will feel exceedingly taxed by season’s end.

This article is for general information only and is not tax advice. Individual outcomes turn on residency, contract structure, filing positions, and facts specific to each player. Consult a qualified tax professional before acting on anything here.

Tags: 2026 free agents NHL nhl cba Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby Vince Comunale

Categorized:NHL Free Agency Pittsburgh Penguins