Maple Leafs, Rangers, Canadiens Top Sportico's 2025 NHL Franchise Valuations

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been ranked by Sportico as the most valuable franchise in the NHL for a fifth straight season.

The Maple Leafs' valuation came in at $4.25 billion ahead of the 2025-26 season, about $600 million more than the second-ranked New York Rangers' $3.65 billion in Sportico's 2025 NHL valuations.

The Montreal Canadiens came in third at $3.3 billion, followed by the Boston Bruins at $3 billion.

The Los Angeles Kings marked the largest season-to-season increase of any top-five team with a valuation of $2.96 billion, an 18 percent increase over the club's 2024 valuation.

The Leafs topped the rankings for a fifth straight season after leading the NHL in ticket sales, sponsorship and media revenue, according to Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen.

The team's parent company, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, also owns Scotiabank Arena, Badenhausen pointed out. The venue was ranked as one of the most lucrative arenas in the world by Billboard last year with a total gross of $121.4 million.

The average NHL team was valued at $2.1 billion, a 17 percent increase over Sportico's 2024 report, per Badenhausen.

The largest jumps in Sportico's 2025 NHL valuations came from the perennial playoff contenders Carolina Hurricanes and two-time defending champion Florida Panthers.

The Hurricanes ranked 15th with a $1.92 billion valuation after a 49 percent year-over-year increase, while the Panthers climbed to 17th with a $1.89 billion valuation following a 51 percent value jump.

Back when Sportico first began published NHL valuations in 2021, the Hurricanes ranked 28th with a valuation of $545 million, while the Hurricanes came in 31st at $520 million.

The NHL overall enjoyed the largest three-year valuation jump of any of North America's four major professional sports leagues, according to Badenhausen.

NHL teams were on average valued by Sportico at $1.01 billion in 2022, marking a more than 100 percent increase over three years.

Sportico's average valuation of NBA teams has increased by 78 percent over that span, with NFL teams seeing a 72 percent jump and MLB valuations rising by just 22 percent, Badenhausen reported.

The lowest-valued NHL team is now the Columbus Blue Jackets, which came in at $1.3 billion ahead of the 2025-26 season. That's the same valuation the Miami Marlins received at the bottom of the MLB valuation rankings Sportico published in March.

Badenhausen pointed out that the NHL's new ability to rival MLB valuations could be clearly seen in the recent sale of two Tampa sports teams.

The Tampa Bay Lightning sold last October at a valuation of $1.8 billion, while the Tampa Bay Rays' sale was approved Tuesday at a valuation of $1.7 billion.

The NHL is betting on team valuations to continue rising, especially now that the league and players' association have guaranteed labor peace by ratifying a collective bargaining agreement to kick in when the current deal expires ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Sportico's Badenhausen and Scott Soshnick reported in June that the NHL expects expansion fees for the league's next franchise to cost at least $2 billion, in addition to $1 billion toward a new arena if the city is in need of one.