NHL lost nearly $400M to injuries last season: Study

Article content

Injuries can be costly, both physically and financially.

In the National Hockey League, injuries are a regular occurrence due to the high level of play on the ice. When players are benched due to injury, teams take a  financial hit.

According to a study compiled by OnlineBetting.com, the total cost of injuries to NHL teams as players sat out recovering this past season was $389 million.

And that hurt the wallet, with the maximum cap per team for 2021-22 set at $81.5 million.

To calculate the tally, the betting company collected data — from Cap Friendly and NHL Injury Viz — on players’ individual salaries and factored in the games they missed while out injured, at a cost per game per player. Those numbers were tallied up to show which team was paying the players while recovering.

According to the study, the Chicago Blackhawks poured out the most money with $30 million. Players Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook, Alexander Nylander and Zak Smith sat a majority of the season, with Toews ($11 million) and Seabrook ($7 million) each out 56 games.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Rounding out the top five on the injuries list was the St. Louis Blues (19 players at $26 million), Dallas Stars (18 players at $25 million), Boston Bruins (21 players at $24 million), and the Tampa Bay Lightning (13 players at $23 million).

So what kind of injuries cost the most? The OnlineBetting.com study noted lower-body injuries costed the NHL the most at $78 million last season, while upper-body injuries hurt its wallets at a cost of $73 million. Other costly injuries include hips ($29 million), shoulder ($27 million) and back ($25 million).