Inside NHL payday: Entry-level deals, summer budgeting and the long wait for the season's first paychecks (2024)

BRIGHTON, Mass. — It was the summer of 2011. Kevin Shattenkirk was preparing for his second NHL season.

The puck-moving defenseman remembers it well. His attention should have been fully on continuing his adjustment to the St. Louis Blues from the Colorado Avalanche, who had traded him the previous season. But he also had a wary eye on his finances.

“It was getting close to September, October,” Shattenkirk recalls, “and looking at my bank account like, ‘Whoa. I’ve got to budget here a little bit.’”

Shattenkirk, 22 at the time, had just completed the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. He had allocated part of his rookie season base salary of $787,500 — generous relative to most people’s earnings — for savings.

Still, because NHL players are paid in-season only, he hadn’t received a paycheck in nearly six months, and things were getting tight.

NHL players are obviously extremely well-paid. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is earning $16.5 million in salary this season. The minimum salary is $775,000 — more than 10 times the median household income in the United States.

But managing newfound wealth can be a daunting prospect for anyone, including very young hockey players. Athletes have a lot to budget for: agents get as much as 4 or 5 percent, plus trainers, nutritionists and the prospect of a relatively short career — not to mention the temptations when teenagers or early-twentysomethings suddenly find themselves sitting in a locker room next to veterans who have been multimillionaires for years.

“A lot of them, as they launch into their athletic career, are trying to match the lifestyle of what an athlete actually looks like,” says Tiana Patillo, a financial adviser manager at Vanguard. “So a lot of individuals, as they begin, they say, ‘Hey, I need this big fancy house. I need the big, nice luxury car. I need jewelry to match the lifestyle of being an athlete.’

“What they really need to do is, knowing that being in a career like this, No. 1, anything can happen from an injury perspective. But then when it comes to the athlete’s career in general, they don’t have as much time to save for retirement as an average individual.”

How players are paid

During the season, players draw income on a biweekly basis. It comes in 13 paychecks over the course of the season. Beginning in training camp, they also receive a per diem of $132 when they’re on the road with the team ($66 on game days and days they leave their home city after 12 p.m.)

Come the offseason, the paychecks and per diems end. So unless a player has an endorsem*nt deal or other supplemental income, his savings must get him through roughly half of the year. That can be eaten up quickly for a younger player whose offseason living and training come at a cost. It takes budgeting.

Consider a player who wants to work out and skate at his team’s facility over the summer. Teams are not permitted to pay for travel or housing during the offseason. So there’s the cost of airfare to, say, Chicago, and a downtown apartment, bundled with the usual living expenses.

In an ideal world, players would begin thinking about their summers at the start of the regular season when the paychecks arrive. Patillo recommends players have three to six months of savings available in accessible accounts. “Just in case you need that money to help pay or offset expenses,” Patillo says.

The offseason cash-flow issue can be especially keen for players on entry-level contracts, which are two-way, carrying a far lower annual salary if the player is in the minors. Those players don’t necessarily know coming into the season how many days they’ll be paid at their NHL rates and how many at their minor-league rates.

Prospect Jakub Lauko, for example, made the Boston Bruins out of camp last year. When he was in the NHL, he earned paychecks toward an annual salary of $750,000 (the minimum prior to this season) in the third and final season of his ELC.

But on Nov. 7, 2022, Lauko was sent down to Providence for what would be 35 games. In the AHL, Lauko’s annual salary was $70,000.

Entry-level uncertainty

For most of October and the beginning of November, playing with the big-league team, Lauko stayed in a hotel in Watertown near Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins’ practice facility. It was paid for by the Bruins.

When he was demoted, at first he didn’t know how long his stay in Providence would be. When it looked like it would stretch longer than he would have liked, Lauko had to figure out where to live.

“Finding an apartment for five months in the middle of November — I wouldn’t be able to find anything in Providence,” Lauko says.

He landed in a three-bedroom apartment with teammates Brandon Bussi and Joey Abate. They split the $4,500 monthly rent.

Bussi was in the same boat as Lauko, with an $80,000 AHL salary on his two-way, entry-level NHL contract. Abate was on an AHL deal. The AHL does not release contract details, but the minimum salary per its CBA is $52,725 in 2023-24, according to the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.

Bussi was recalled to the NHL on three occasions in 2022-23, all on an emergency basis. Lauko had two subsequent recalls.

You can imagine the elation. He saw the difference in his paycheck.

“It’s probably nine, 10 times bigger than it is in Providence on entry-level,” Lauko says.

Lauko has since signed a two-year extension. It’s a two-way deal this season: $775,000 in the NHL and a significant raise to $200,000 in the AHL. In 2024-25, it becomes a one-way deal with the same salary ($800,000) in either league.

“When you’re on entry level in the NHL, it sucks, to be honest,” Lauko says. “You’re paid for seven months. Rents are so high, especially in Providence. It’s an expensive city. So when you compare from NHL salary to AHL salary, it’s a big difference.”

If a player incorrectly assumes an NHL salary or otherwise budgets wrong and does not have enough cash available come the offseason, he might have to reach for his high-interest credit card. For some young players, it can snowball.

In retrospect, Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk is pleased with how he handled his entry-level contract. Every summer, the Edmonton native returned to live with father Louie and mother Cindy DeBrusk.

“I was still living at home, greasing off my parents as much as I could,” says DeBrusk, who has since purchased his own house. “They were waiting to kick me out. I remember the first time I actually got my signing bonus. It was kind of nice. We’ve got lots of guys that are in college and they have to pay for their education. I remember talking to a couple guys who were like, ‘Yeah, that’s what it’s going toward.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t have anything except for a couple fines from the team that I needed to pay.’”

Other young players may not have been so eager to stay at home — or have a former NHLer as a father to help guide their offseason training. They may have bought their own places. Mortgages still need to be paid in the offseason. That can be tricky without income.

Planning for the future

Meanwhile, it’s not straightforward for young players to live frugally in the NHL.

During the season, when teams foot the bill, the standard is luxury.

“Nice hotels. We get buffets. You come to the rink, there’s food,” DeBrusk says.

In the offseason, there’s a tendency, and sometimes peer pressure, to maintain that quality of life. And, DeBrusk adds, “It’s the little details in the summer that you always forget about.” Air travel is often private. Four Seasons can be the road hotel brand of choice. Dinner is usually at the steakhouse.

“When you’re used to getting paid every two weeks, then you have half a year without it, be responsible at the moment,” Lauko says. “Don’t get super, super loose about spending everything. So I’ve been trying to keep it low, keep it smart over the last few years.”

Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk meets with his financial adviser every summer to formulate the budget for the year ahead.

When his paychecks arrive, he sends the money to his adviser. On the first of every month, the adviser gives Grzelcyk a set amount. The rest is saved and invested. This way, Grzelcyk doesn’t have to worry about how to spend in the summer.

“It’s eye-opening your first few years,” Grzelcyk says of managing personal finances. “You really are on your own. You have to take that into your own hands. Just surrounding yourself with the right people is what’s most important.”

The wait is over. The first bi-weekly paychecks went out on the 15th, and the second are coming Monday. There will be happy players around the NHL.

“It’s great,” Shattenkirk says. “We love the 15th and 30th.”

(Graphic: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic, with photos from Dilip Vishwanat, Jamie Sabau, Ben Jackson and Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)