What Percent of NHL Players Are Canadian?

A recent study showed that the percentage of NHL players who are Canadian has been declining in recent years.

NHL History

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world.

The first NHL game

The first NHL game was played on December 19, 1917, between the Montreal Canadiens and the original expansion franchise, the Toronto Arenas. The Arenas won the game 6–0, with both of their goals coming in the first period. The second period was scoreless while the Montreal Canadiens scored four goals in the third period.

The Original Six

The Original Six is the group of six teams that made up the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 25 seasons between 1942 and 1967. They are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. The era of the Original Six began with the 1941–42 NHL season and ended with the expansion of the league in 1967.

The Original Six era was marked by intense rivalries between the teams. The Montreal Canadiens dominated the NHL during this period, winning six Stanley Cups in a row from 1956 to 1960 and five more Cups in a row from 1964 to 1969. The rivalry between the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs was particularly heated; in 1959, they met in the Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won 4–2.

In 1967, the NHL doubled in size to 12 teams by adding six new expansion teams: the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.

The present day NHL

Despite the NHL now being composed of players from many different countries, Canada has always had a strong presence in the league. In fact, as of the 2019-2020 season, 50.8% of NHL players are Canadian. This is a significant increase from recent years, where the percentage was around 44%.

The 30 NHL teams

As of the 2019-20 NHL season, there are 30 teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). Of those 30 teams, seven are located in Canada. In order of their locations from west to east, they are the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens.

The other 23 teams in the NHL are located in the United States. Most of these teams (16) are located in the eastern half of the country, while the remaining seven are located in the western half. In order of their locations from north to south, the US-based NHL teams are the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning Nashville Predators , St. Louis Blues , Chicago Blackhawks , Colorado Avalanche , Dallas Stars , Minnesota Wild , Arizona Coyotes , Anaheim Ducks , Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks .

The NHL today

The NHL has seen a lot of changes over the years. The most recent change came in 2017 when the NHL expanded to 31 teams with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights. This brought the total number of Canadian teams in the NHL up to 7, which is the most of any country.

Despite this, the percentage of Canadian players in the NHL has been steadily declining for years. In 2017, only 49.9% of NHL players were Canadian, down from 57.1% in 2000. This trend is expected to continue as more and more players from Europe and other countries make their way into the league.

Still, Canada remains the dominant force in hockey and it’s unlikely that will change anytime soon.

The percentage of Canadian NHL players

According to a study done in 2017, the percentage of Canadian NHL players is declining. In the 2005-2006 season, 44.3% of NHL players were from Canada. In the 2015-2016 season, the percentage of Canadian NHL players had decreased to 26.9%. The study attributes this decline to the rise of the salary cap, which has made it more difficult for Canadian teams to compete against teams from the United States.

The number of Canadian NHL players

As of the 2017-18 NHL season, 49.6% of NHL players were Canadian. This is down from 52.1% in the 2016-17 season and 57.1% in the 2015-16 season.

There are a number of factors that have contributed to this decline, including the increased popularity of hockey in other countries and the rise of professional leagues in Europe. However, Canada still produces more NHL players than any other country, and its players make up a significant majority of the league.

The percentage of Canadian NHL players

As of the 2019-2020 season, the percentage of Canadian NHL players is approximately 50%.