All 32 NHL Owners, Ranked From Worst to First

While NHL franchises still lag behind their counterparts in the NBA, MLB and NFL in terms of value, they’ve actually seen their values skyrocket in the last decade just like the other three leagues. 

It’s worth pointing out that, as a whole, NHL owners seem pretty invested in their hockey teams and have a genuine interest in seeing them succeed. They’re mostly great to really good to average, and there are only a few notable exceptions where one could really consider the owners genuinely awful. 

Here’s a look at where all 32 NHL owners rank, from worst to first. 

Purchase price (year): $92 million (2003)

Current team value: $800 million 

Stanley Cups as owner: None

Bottom line: While Eugene Melnyk has been dead since March 2022, his name is still on the deed to the Ottawa Senators (as represented by the Melynk estate), so even in death, he’s making this franchise the worst ownership group in the NHL. 

The Senators are expected to sell for approximately $900 million in the near future, but that will do little to erase the damage Melnyk did in 20 years with the team. It would be tough to categorize all of Melnyk’s transgressions — The Ringer’s Katie Baker already did a brilliant job laying it out — but believe us when we say, if Melnyk’s lips were moving, he was probably lying.  

Note: Team values are current through August 2023.

Purchase price (year): $207 million (2005)

Current team value: $1.01 billion

Stanley Cups as owner: None

Bottom line: Francesco Aquilini doesn’t seem like a very good guy. He’s been found guilty of ripping off migrant workers he employed and has been accused of horrific child abuse by his four adult children.

The Canucks are also as bad as they’ve ever been. The team made the playoffs twice in the last decade — a first-round and second-round loss — and not in the last three seasons. 

Purchase price (year): $147 million (2002)

Current team value: $740 million

Stanley Cups as owner: None

Bottom line: German businessman Hasso Plattner has a staggering net worth of $17.9 billion, but it’s fair to question how he’s running the San Jose Sharks or which direction his ownership might be taking them — the franchise hasn’t made the postseason since 2019. Plattner had one of the all-time strangest quotes for an NHL owner back in 2013 when, after a decade of owning the team, he declared, “You cannot make money off a hockey team.”

Maybe that’s why the Sharks have one of the lowest operating incomes in the NHL at just $6.7 million per year. 

Purchase price (year): $174 million (2007)

Current team value: $810 million 

Stanley Cups as owner: None

Bottom line: This is a weird one to put on the list. Current Preds owner Herb Fritch is in the middle of a four-year payment plan with former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam to sell the team, and the deal’s final payment is expected in 2025. Regardless, it’s worth noting that the Predators play in one of the NHL’s best venues at Bridgestone Arena and have one of the best home cities.

How will Bill Haslam be as an owner? As one of the heirs to the Pilot Corporation, he isn’t the first person in his family to own a sports franchise, as his brother, Jimmy Haslam, owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Let’s just hope Bill won’t be taking tips from Jimmy, who happens to be one of the NFL’s worst.