According to their latest valuations, Sportico indicates the Chicago Blackhawks are now worth $2.45 billion. That value represents a 33 percent increase from their 2023 valuations, which is nice.

But it also represents just the sixth-highest value in the NHL. The Blackhawks ranked third last year. The Los Angeles Kings have entered the formerly exclusive Original Six chat at the top of the chart. Here’s the new top five:

I’m always interested to see these rankings. There are a couple significant influences on this year’s rankings. The first is the sale of the Ottawa Senators to Toronto billionaire Michael Andlauer for $950 million in June of 2023. While the Senators are one of only three teams to not improve their value by at least 25 percent from last year — with the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets — this is the first time every team in the NHL is worth at least $1 billion.

Secondly, the sale of the artist formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes to the group in Utah. The Smith Entertainment Group bought the existing ice hockey assets from Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo for a reported $1.2 billion after what I would characterize as the NHL executing a hostile takeover of the franchise. Meruelo received $1 billion and the additional $200 million relocation fee was shared by the other 31 ownership groups.

Within the last two weeks, Jeff Vinik sold a stake in the Tampa Bay Lightning at a $1.8 billion valuation.

The 2025 rankings will be probably the most interesting to me since 2011, when the Blackhawks enjoyed a boom from their first Stanley Cup championship in five decades. How the Chicago Sports Network debacle impacts the franchise valuation is going to be fascinating.