Surprise Ranking Reveals The NHL's Most Valuable Franchises

The Original Six, which included the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Canadiens, and Rangers, has legions of fans in their base who bleed the team colours and can recite the players' names during their successful years and Cup runs.

With the league now comprising 32 teams and several teams consistently losing money each year, Sportico released the top ten NHL team valuations.

The Maple Leafs lead the pack at 2.65 billion, followed by the Rangers and the Canadiens. The Blackhawks sit fourth at $1.84 billion, and it's expected to rise rapidly with the new additions to the team, guided by General Manager Kyle Davidson, with Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski forming part of the new core.

With Danny Wirtz in control of the team after the sudden passing of his father, Rocky with a desire to become a powerhouse again, there is an overall sense that the Blackhawks will rise quickly out of the basement.

According to The Athletic, the NHL was likely to bring in $5.3 billion or higher during the 2021-2022 season. With the COVID pandemic behind us and the NHL anticipating further growth, it's widely expected that the league will see a sharp rise in the salary cap, breaking the logjam that has been affecting the league for the past several years.

This will enable teams to sign players to long-term deals again and make their budgets more sensible.

The league's overall bottom line appears to be quite healthy.