NHL
How much money does the winner of the Stanley Cup get? How the NHL Playoff Fund is divided
During the postseason, NHL players get performance-related pay from the Playoff Player Fund, which is negotiated as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL players aren’t paid their regular salaries. Instead, their regular-season earnings are supplemented by what’s known as the Playoff Player Fund, which offers them postseason earnings that depend on how their team performs.
How much is the Playoff Player Fund worth?
The existence of the Playoff Player Fund is set out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NHL and the players’ union, the NHLPA. Last extended in 2020, the CBA includes a steadily increasing fund which this season amounts to a total of $22 million.
Per The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, the distribution of the 2024 Playoff Player Fund breaks down as follows:
- Presidents’ Trophy winner: $859,375
- First Round loser: $429,687
- Second Round loser: $859,375
- Conference Final loser: $2,062,500
- Stanley Cup Final loser: $3,781,250
- Stanley Cup winner: $6,539,375
If split among 27 players on a team’s roster, The Athletic adds, the Stanley Cup winners’ prize-money allocation of just over $6.5 million equates to a $242,000 pay-out per man.
Panthers on cusp of first championship
The winners’ cheque appears set to go to the Florida Panthers, who hold a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals. Having won 3-0, 4-1 and 4-3 in the championship series’ first three games, the Panthers visit the Oilers this weekend, with the opportunity to complete a series sweep.
It would be the first whitewash in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998, when the Detroit Red Wings thumped the Washington Capitals.
The Panthers have never previously won the Stanley Cup.
Panthers vs Oilers: start time, how to watch
In Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, the Edmonton Oilers host the Florida Panthers today, Saturday 15 June 2024, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The clash is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and viewers in the United States can watch the action on ABC and ESPN+.
Watch the Panthers vs the Oilers on fuboTV, which offers new users a free trial.
“Play the same way we’ve been playing”
Speaking ahead of Game 4, Panthers center Anton Lundell urged his team-mates not to allow the prospect of NHL title glory to affect the way they go about their business at Rogers Place.
“Just try to play the same way we’ve been playing,” Lundell said, in comments published by the NHL. “We know how to play, and it’s all about going out and just try to have fun and enjoy the moment as well, but know that it’s going to be a hard game. They’re going to give everything they have, and we need to be able to give everything we have and it’s going to be a great game.”