NHL head coaches earn somewhere between about $1 million and $6.5 million a year. The range is wide because the figures aren’t public: no NHL club has ever confirmed in dollars what it pays a head coach, and no coach has either. Clubs announce the length of a contract and never the money.
The most useful guide comes from the coaches themselves. The NHL Coaches’ Association sets membership dues by salary band and sorts head coaches into three groups: above $5 million, between $2 million and $5 million, and below $2 million.
How much do NHL coaches make?
Between $1 million and $5.5 million, according to ESPN’s 2022 reporting, which remains the most specific published range from a major outlet. Below that, the NHL Coaches’ Association’s own dues schedule divides head coaches at $2 million and $5 million, which is the clearest indication of where the market’s breakpoints sit, because it comes from the organization the coaches belong to rather than an estimate.
There is a hard ceiling too. Sportico’s 2026 list of the 50 highest-paid coaches in American sport includes no NHL coach, and the cutoff was $8.81 million. So no NHL head coach earns that much.
There is no minimum. Players have a floor set by the collective bargaining agreement; coaches are not covered by it, so nothing stops a club from paying less. Rod Brind’Amour reportedly started in Carolina at $600,000, below the bottom of ESPN’s range.
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Who is the highest-paid coach in the NHL?
Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers, at a reported $6.5 million a year through 2029-30. That figure comes from Arthur Staple of The Athletic, citing two league sources, and ESPN’s Emily Kaplan separately reported that the deal set a record for a head coach without publishing an amount. Nobody has confirmed it.
Below him, these are the only head-coach salaries reported by a named journalist rather than estimated:
| Coach | Club | Reported | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Sullivan | NY Rangers | $6,500,000 | Arthur Staple, The Athletic |
| Mike Babcock | Toronto, 2015 | $6,250,000 | CBC, ESPN, NBC Sports |
| Todd McLellan | Los Angeles | $5,500,000 | Pierre LeBrun, TSN |
| Mike Sullivan | Pittsburgh | $5,500,000 | reported |
| Joel Quenneville | Florida | $5,500,000 | Pierre LeBrun, TSN |
| Rick Tocchet | Philadelphia | $5,250,000 | Pierre LeBrun, TSN |
| Craig Berube | Toronto | $4,500,000 | Pierre LeBrun, TSN |
Why are NHL coaching salaries not public?
Because nothing requires them to be recorded. The salary cap applies only to players, and there is no salary cap on hockey operations. Coaches are not members of the NHL Players’ Association; they belong to the NHL Coaches’ Association, which describes itself as a professional organization that provides support rather than a union, and that does not bargain collectively. No amount has to be registered against anything, so no public accounting exists.
How tight it is shows in the reporting. Pierre LeBrun, the best-connected journalist on the subject, wrote of one extension that he did not have the exact number but that sources suggested it placed the coach near the top of the top tier. If LeBrun cannot get the figure, nobody can.
Who pays a coach after he is fired?
The club that fired him, usually while also paying his replacement. The clearest documented case involves Todd McLellan, whom Los Angeles dismissed in February 2024 with a year left. LeBrun reported that the Kings were still paying him $5.5 million while he coached Detroit, and the two clubs had to negotiate how to handle the remaining money before Detroit could complete the hire.
Toronto has done it twice. Mike Babcock was fired in November 2019 with three years and $18.75 million left, and the club paid him out while paying Sheldon Keefe. Babcock took the Columbus job in 2023 in the same month the Toronto money ran out, because a new salary would otherwise have been offset against it. Craig Berube was fired in May 2026 with two years left at a reported $4.5 million a year.
The arrangement gives the old club power over the new one. Vegas fired Bruce Cassidy in March 2026 and blocked both Edmonton and Los Angeles from interviewing him that summer. Cassidy’s own account was that they had to give permission, and that was how it was left. A fired coach who is still being paid cannot go looking for work.
How does NHL coaching pay compare with other leagues?
It is the lowest of the four major North American leagues at the top end. Andy Reid and John Harbaugh earn about $20 million a year in the NFL, Steve Kerr $17.5 million in the NBA, and Dave Roberts $8.1 million in baseball.
The gap is even starker for players. Leo Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit is roughly 2.8 times the league’s highest reported coaching salary, and more than the two best-paid coaches earn combined. The job is also short: Front Office Sports puts the average tenure of an NHL head coach at 2.3 years.
What do NHL assistant coaches make?
Between $200,000 and $750,000 depending on experience, per the same ESPN reporting. The coaches’ association’s dues ladder is the only checkable indication of the internal hierarchy: assistants pay $750, goaltending coaches $500, and skills and video coaches $250.
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Where does this data come from?
The range and the assistant-coach figures come from ESPN’s 2022 reporting on hockey operations spending. The salary tiers come from the NHL Coaches’ Association’s own dues schedule. The ceiling comes from Sportico’s 2026 list of the highest-paid coaches in American sports.
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