Advertisement

How Much Do NHL Goalies Make Every 7.6 Seconds?

Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves served as his team's backup goalie for one night. (Mike Carlson/AP)
Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves served as his team's backup goalie for one night. (Mike Carlson/AP)

Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves capped off 2016 with the opportunity of a lifetime, suiting up as the team's backup goalie on New Year's Eve. (The regular backup had fallen ill just hours before the game.) Alves signed a one-day, $500 contract and got on the ice for the game's final 7.6 seconds.

Five hundred bucks might not sound like much compared to the millions that starting NHL goalies earn each year. But, when you crunch the numbers, Alves' per-second rate stacks up pretty well.

We took a closer look at the NHL's five highest paid goalies to see how much they've been earning per 7.6 seconds so far this season.

5. Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) – The Canadiens are currently in first place in the Atlantic Division, and Price has been an integral part of the team. Price, who currently has an average salary of $6.5 million, has logged 2,143 minutes this season. That puts him at $384 per 7.6 seconds — well below Alves' rate.

MONTREAL - SEPTEMBER 18: Goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens defends his net during a pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on September 18, 2007 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Penguins defeated the Canadiens 5-2. (Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)
(Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)

4. Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) -- The 34-year-old veteran earns an average salary of $7 million. Rinne has spent 2,130 minutes on ice so far this season — putting his rate at $416 per 7.6 seconds.

3. Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins) -- Rask is currently under contract through the 2020-21 season and makes an average of $7 million per year, the same as Rinne. But because Rask has logged more ice time this year (2,287 minutes), he's currently earning just $388 per 7.6 seconds.

TORONTO - NOVEMBER 20: Rask Tuukka #40 of the Boston Bruins makes his NHL debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period on November 20, 2007 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Harry How/Getty Images)

2. Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) -- Bobrovsky was named the NHL’s First Star of the Month for December after recording a .939 save percentage. “Bob” makes an average of $7.425 million and has logged 2,203 minutes on the ice. That puts him at $427 per 7.6 seconds — $73 short of Alves.

1. Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) – Lundqvist is the highest paid goalie in the NHL with an average salary of $8.5 million. The veteran has a regular season save percentage of .920 over his career, which ranks sixth in the NHL among all-time goalies. He's spent 1,945 minutes on ice this season, the least among this group. That puts Lundqvist just ahead of Alves at $554 per 7.6 seconds.

ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 24: Goalie Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers watches the play against the Atlanta Thrashers on November 24, 2005 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The Rangers won the game 6-3. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

It's fun to mess around with salary numbers (and, of course, these rates will drop as these goalies play more games), but, for Jorge Alves, those 7.6 seconds in net weren't about money.

"Our general manager, Ron Francis — he's thanked me on a few occasions for filling in and getting them out of this bind, and it's just weird because I'm thanking him for the opportunity," Alves told Only A Game. "It's been amazing."

Related:

Advertisement

More from Only A Game

Listen Live
Close