NHL Franchise Boys

You win the Stanley Cup and you get a ring, but a bit of extra cash never hurts.

The Los Angeles Kings will split a pot of $3.75 million for being the Stanley Cup champs.  The bonus money comes from a pool of $13 million that’s split among all playoff participants. It’s not much, considering how much the league rakes in during the postseason, and even less given that the players don’t get a paycheck after the regular season ends, but it’s a bigger slice than it used to be. The pool was doubled as part of last year’s CBA negotiations.

The Kings, and all other teams participating, are allowed to split the money however they see fit, but each regular on the roster should see at least $100,000…more than enough to cover the charges for any incidental damage done to the Cup during the upcoming summer of partying with it…. YES, the players are responsible for repairs!

Here’s how the NHL’s total bonus pool was divvied up:
President’s Trophy winner (Boston): $500,000
First round losers (Col, Dal, SJ, StL, Col, Det, TB, Phi): $250,000 each
Second round losers (Minnesota, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Boston): $500,000 each
Third round losers (Chicago, Montreal): $1.25 million each
Stanley Cup finalist (N.Y. Rangers): $2.25 million
Stanley Cup champion (Los Angeles): $3.75 million
Conn Smythe winner (Justin Williams): $250,000