We finally know how much bonus money the playoff-qualifying teams receive

With the new collective agreement, the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) has negotiated a $20 million lump sum with the NHL to be shared among all players who participated in the playoffs.

The amounts listed below show how much each team receives, they must then be divided among the players themselves, leaving a much smaller sum. Each team votes on how to distribute the shares, so the resulting amount will be different from team to team and will not necessarily be the same in all formations.

Usually, players who have played in all the playoff games will receive larger bonuses than their teammates who may have only played in one or two games. When NHL rosters call up black aces, at the end of their season to use them as reserve players, it is natural that these rostered players will not get an equal share of the bonus compared to players who competed with the team for the entire season.

Here's how it's divided up as reported by Kevin McGran of Toronto:


First, each team that lost in the first round of the playoffs is given $390,625.00 for their playoff bonus. The Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars will all be eligible for this amount.

That leaves the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes. While the Panthers won the President's Trophy and went out in the second round, they are the odd club out here and will, according to the convention, receive $1,562,500 to distribute, as they get $781,250 for winning the President's Trophy and their second round playoff bonus. The other teams that lost in the second round will each receive $781,250.00, which is a nice bonus for the Flames, Hurricanes and Blues.

The third round losers, whoever they are, will win a playoff bonus of $1,875,000.

The runner-up team, like the Canadiens last season, will earn $3,437,500 in playoff bonuses, while the Stanley Cup winners will pocket $5,781,250 to distribute. Thus, in two years, the Tampa Bay Lightning has earned $11,562,500 from its repeated Cup performance.