Here’s how much the Habs players will earn if they eliminate the Sabres

Félix Forget
Here’s how much the Habs players will earn if they eliminate the Sabres
Credit: Matt Garies/NHLI via Getty Images

Tonight, the Habs will try to secure their spot in the Eastern Conference Final. With a win over the Sabres tonight (or Monday), they would close out the series and face the Hurricanes in a few days.

And of course, that's what's capturing everyone's attention in Quebec tonight.

It's important to remember, however, that NHL players aren't paid during the playoffs. Their salaries are paid during the regular season… and the only compensation they receive during the playoffs comes in the form of bonuses awarded to the teams, as Nicolas Cloutier explained on JiC.

Each team can divide that prize pool however it wishes, by the way.

And if the Habs beat the Sabres and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, the club will have a $2.25 million prize pool to distribute among its players. If this were divided equally among the players, they would each receive $90,000.

That said, it's not always that simple. The team could decide to give more money to certain players, whether to its star players or its lower-paid players. All of this is at the teams' discretion.

Obviously, when you consider that the minimum salary is $775,000 and that no Habs player earns less than $863,334 (Zachary Bolduc, who is on his entry-level contract, is the club's lowest-paid player), you realize that the prize money doesn't replace the guys' regular salaries.

No one feels sorry for them, let's be clear, but it's quite paradoxical to see that the guys play physical hockey and often carry heavy injuries without being paid, strictly speaking—something they don't necessarily do during the regular season, when they are paid.

The Habs have already received a $470,000 bonus for making the playoffs and another $940,000 bonus for beating the Lightning in the first round.

If they make it to the finals, the team will receive another $4.12 million… and could earn a final $6.92 million if they were to lift the Stanley Cup.


In brief

– P.K. Subban is in Montreal for tonight's game.

– Great read on Phillip Danault.

– Golden Knights: Some expect they'll be able to keep their second-round pick if the decision is appealed.

– Too bad.

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