How Many Players Have Played in the NHL?
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How Many Players Have Played in the NHL?
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league. Founded in 1917, the NHL is composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada.
Introduction
Since it was established in 1917, the National Hockey League (NHL) has been the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. Though it began with just four teams, the NHL has expanded several times over the years and now boasts 31 teams across the United States and Canada. During its nearly 100-year history, tens of thousands of players have donned an NHL jersey and taken to the ice. But just how many players have played in the NHL?
The answer to that question is a bit complicated. First, it’s important to note that there are two different types of players who have suited up for NHL teams: those who played in at least one regular season game and those who played in at least one Stanley Cup playoff game. For our purposes, we’ll be looking at both types of players.
According to the NHL, there have been a total of 18,791 players who have played in at least one regular season game. Of those, 988 have also played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. When you add those two groups together, you get a grand total of 19,779 players who have suited up for an NHL team at some point in their career.
It’s worth noting that these numbers only include players who have actually played in an NHL game. They do not include individuals who were drafted by an NHL team but never ended up playing for that team (for example, if they chose to play in a different professional league or retired before ever playing an NHL game). Therefore, it’s possible that the true number of players who have been associated with an NHL team is actually higher than 19,779.
How Many Players Have Played in the NHL?
As of the 2019-2020 season, a total of 18,015 different players have played at least one game in the NHL. This includes players from all around the world, including countries like Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, and more.
All-Time NHL Players
As of the 2019-2020 season, there have been a total of 7,394 players who have played at least one game in the NHL. This includes players who played in the NHL as well as players who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Of those 7,394 players, 532 of them have played in 1,000 or more games.
NHL Players by Country
Since the National Hockey League’s (NHL) inception in 1917, players from all over the world have made their way to North America to compete at the highest level of professional hockey. Currently, there are players from 18 different countries playing in the NHL. The majority of NHL players (74.3%) are Canadian, followed by the United States (21%), Sweden (1.9%), Finland (1.4%), Russia (0.9%), and the Czech Republic (0.7%). These percentages have remained relatively stable over the past few years.
Conclusion
We can see from the data that there have been just over 6000 players who have played in the NHL since it began in 1917. The greatest number of players came from the 1960s onwards, with a peak in the 1980s. There are a few reasons for this including an increase in the number of NHL teams and an increase in the popularity of hockey itself.
