Not surprisingly, Canada leads the way in cap hit at the the Olympics, but when it comes to average cap hit per NHL player, the country that wins the gold medal in that category might surprise you.
Those of you who remember the television program, The Six Million Dollar Man, knew that Steve Austin would have cleaned up in the Olympics. It remains to be seen whether Canada’s $6 million men can do the same in Sochi.
The first puck has yet to be dropped, but Canada has already won the gold medal for having the highest salary cap hit in the Games. The Canadians check in at $149.1 million, which is almost $85 million over the NHL’s salary cap of $64.3 million.
But surprisingly, Canada’s average of $6 million per NHL player is not the highest average in the Olympics. That honor belongs to Slovenia, who has just one NHL player on its roster, Anze Kopitar, who carries a salary cap of $6.8 million with the Los Angeles Kings.
Here’s where each team checks in with total cap hit and cap hit per NHL player on the roster:
CANADA
Total cap hit: $149,093,332
Average cap hit (25 NHL players): $5,963,733
USA
Total cap hit: $119,775,258
Average cap hit (25 NHL players): $4,791,010
SWEDEN
Total cap hit: $86,434,166
Average cap hit (24 NHL players): $3,601,423
RUSSIA
Total cap hit: $67,796,792
Average cap hit (16 NHL players): $4,237,300
CZECH REPUBLIC
Total cap hit: $59,437,500
Average cap hit (17 NHL players): $3,496,324
FINLAND
Total cap hit: $45,804,167
Average cap hit (14 NHL players): $3,271,762
SLOVAKIA
Total cap hit: $26,170,834
Average cap hit (10 NHL players): $2,617,083
SWITZERLAND
Total cap hit: $20,415,000
Average cap hit (9 NHL players): $2,268,333
AUSTRIA
Total cap hit: $9,542,500
Average cap hit (3 NHL players): $3,180,833
SLOVENIA
Total cap hit: $6,800,000
Average cap hit (1 NHL player): $6,800,000
NORWAY
Total cap hit: $1,150,000
Average cap hit (1 NHL player): $1,150,000
LATVIA
Total cap hit: $894,167
Average cap hit (1 NHL player): $894,167
TOTAL NHL CAP HIT: $593,313,716
AVERAGE CAP HIT (146 NHL PLAYERS): $4,063,793
The highest cap hit of the Olympics belongs to Alexander Ovechkin of Russia/Washington Capitals at $9.5 million and the lowest goes to Simon Moser of Switzerland/Nashville Predators at $570,000.