According to official statistics, the NHL is the fifth highest-grossing sports league in the world by revenue. Facts like these leave many pondering on just how much professionals in the sports league make on wages and salary basis. And while NHL salary structures, especially for coaches have been obscured in the past, there are much more public contracts and salary agreements for both players and coaches today.
To that end, we’re answering the question of “how much do NHL coaches make” to the best of updates and resources accessible to us. Read on.
How Much do NHL Coaches Get Paid? (With Salary Tracker)
According to inside sources and local reporters, the average NHL coach salary for head coaches peaked at $1 to 5$ million annually. This figure only holds for head coaches, managing tier-one teams in the NHL, as it is their salary structures that are most prone to the public eye.
On breaking down the annual figure, we’ve found that most NHL managers receive hourly wages between $19.80 and $31. This figure also features a variance of over $12, which clearly shows the difference between higher value and much more experienced coaches, compared to the junior ones.
Highest Paid Hockey Coaches in 2024
Tiger Woods, quoting Earl Woods – “Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.”
Even with the relative obscurity surrounding most coaches’ salaries in the NHL, some top-earner figures just can’t escape the public gaze. On that note, here are some of the biggest earners in 2024, with a paying contract in the NHL.
Peter DeBoer, Dallas Stars
DeBoer is having a pretty significant career thus far with the Dallas Stars after signing for the team in 2022. The 55-year-old Canadian’s pay grade comes as no surprise, considering his experience, having already managed some top names in the NHL, including Golden Knight and New Jersey Devils. DeBoer’s contract with the Dallas Stars is reportedly worth over $4,250,000.
Bruce Cassidy
Brad Park – “We get nose jobs all the time in the NHL, and we don’t even have to go to the hospital.”
Known for his special ability to mold strong and cohesive teams, Bruce Cassidy is also one of the highest earners when it concerns NHL coach salary. On current terms, Cassidy’s contract with the Vegas Golden Knights makes him one the highest-paid managers in the league, with a total package worth over $4.5 million.
Fun Fact: Mike Sullivan became the youngest American coach to win the Stanley Cup in 2016 when he led the Pittsburgh Penguins to victory.
Jay Woodcroft
Courtesy of a guaranteed contract, Jay Woodcroft, on paper, is about the highest-paid NHL coaching staff. Even after getting sacked in November 2023, Jay Woodcroft’s salary structure still guarantees a total package of $6 million.
These salary figures are nothing out of the ordinary, as similar cases are obtainable in other sports leagues and peaking industries like entertainment, e-commerce, and very, notably, online casino gambling, etc.
Just as these top names make the most wages from the best teams around, typical high-stakes casino gamblers also make the most from trusted platforms like online casinos that accept Visa and other solid payment structures, with the necessary licensing.
Coaches Salary do not Need Reported Publicly – Hindrances to Transparency
Till today, it is still pretty difficult to ascertain the exact salary amount of most coaches in the NHL, as compared to that of the players. This is mostly because, by standards and policies, coaches’ salaries do not necessarily need to be disclosed.
By right, NHL coaches still do not have a standard unifying body as the players do, which makes their major operations and salary structures much more covert, asides their salaries being guaranteed.
What are the top 10 Highest Paying Cities for NHL Coaching Jobs
With more than 20 countries represented in the NHL, certain Cities have a blueprint of offering very high-paying NHL coaching jobs. Analyzing top official coaching statistics, here are a couple of cities with the best-paying NHL managerial positions on average.
- San Jose
- Vallejo
- Oakland
- Hayward
- Ashland
- Antioch
- Lebanon
- Seattle
- Santa Barbara
- Santa Cruz.
What are the top 5 Best Paying Related Coaching Jobs
Asides, head coach positions, they’re still a couple of related roles that guarantee some handsome wages as well. These include Data operations (MIb), NHL analysts and broadcasters, etc.
Here’s a salary structure overview for these related NHL roles
| Job Title | Annual Salary | Hourly wage |
| MIb Data Operations | $128,526 | $61.79 |
| NHL 2024 | $107, 799 | $51.83 |
| NHL Team | $102,331 | $49.20 |
| NHL Analyst | $88,111 | $42.36 |
| NHL Broadcaster | $86,597 | $41 |
Fun Fact: Al Arbour coached 1,607 games for the New York Islanders, the most with a single team in the NHL’s history.
Conclusion
In all, even whilst coaching salary details in the NHL are not as public as that of the players, some figures just can’t stay hidden. And with an average coaching salary of $1 to $5 million, NHL coaches are definitely some of the highest-earning managerial staff in top-flight sports leagues.
