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Active NHL players by nationality

POVERTY said:
I won't be too surprised when the US eventually overtakes Canada
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There was a rather drastic change between 2013-14 and 2018-19:

2013-14 numbers:
Canada - 52.6 %
USA - 23.0%

2018-19 numbers:
Canada - 43.6 % (-9 %)
USA - 27.0 % (+4 %)

The numbers have stabilized a lot since then, with USA +1.8 % in last five years and Canada -1.2 % in the last five years. Canada had a (very small) uptick in GP this year, USA did as well, with Swedes, Finns, Czechs, Swiss, and Slovaks all having small decreases, and small uptick in Germans. Russians had an increase this year as well (5.8 % -> 6.2 %)
 
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Eye of Ra said:
…

Anything noteworthy? For me its suprising how few austrians and norweigans there is. Thought there was a few more.
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No Lithuanians and only 6 Danes and 2 Norwegians. Someone (probably on this site) explained to me that the reason there were so many Swedes in the NHL as compared to Norwegians and Danes was the amount of population that lived near a coastline. But still, c’mon Denmark, step up your NHL game.
 
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I think Ra accidentally failed to acknowledge that there was another page after the first 15 countries listed.
 
Eye of Ra said:
Canada 448
USA 299
Sweden 101
Russsia 67
Finland 48
Czech Republic 32
Slovakia 11
Switzerland 10
Germany 8
Denmark 6
Latvia 5
Belarus 4
France 3
Norway 2
Austria 1

Source; Eliteprospects

Anything noteworthy? For me its suprising how few austrians and norweigans there is. Thought there was a few more.
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Not really shocked. Austria and Norway are relatively small nations. Like, I'm Canadian and in many ways we feel like a small country population wise, but that may just be living next to a giant world power. Like, Hockey is our number 1 sport historically, and while we still have a significant portion of the league, as the sport has gotten bigger our influence has lessened. I'd say Sweden having more than Russia is a bit surprising on paper, but not when I think about it.
 
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Eye of Ra said:
Canada 448
USA 299
Sweden 101
Russsia 67
Finland 48
Czech Republic 32
Slovakia 11
Switzerland 10
Germany 8
Denmark 6
Latvia 5
Belarus 4
France 3
Norway 2
Austria 1

Source; Eliteprospects

Anything noteworthy? For me its suprising how few austrians and norweigans there is. Thought there was a few more.
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This is an interesting topic, thanks for posting that.
 
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WarriorofTime said:
There was a rather drastic change between 2013-14 and 2018-19:

2013-14 numbers:
Canada - 52.6 %
USA - 23.0%

2018-19 numbers:
Canada - 43.6 % (-9 %)
USA - 27.0 % (+4 %)

The numbers have stabilized a lot since then, with USA +1.8 % in last five years and Canada -1.2 % in the last five years. Canada had a (very small) uptick in GP this year, USA did as well, with Swedes, Finns, Czechs, Swiss, and Slovaks all having small decreases, and small uptick in Germans. Russians had an increase this year as well (5.8 % -> 6.2 %)
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Population isn't always destiny. Georgia has 30% the population of Canada, had NHL teams for 20 years, and hasn't produced a single solitary NHL player.
 
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FunkySeeFunkyDo said:
No Lithuanians and no Danes. Someone (probably on this site) explained to me that the reason there were so many Swedes in the NHL as compared to Norweigians and Danes was the amount of population that lived near a coastline. But still, c’mon Denmark, step up your NHL game.
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According to iihf Sweden have 374 rinks and over 70.000 hockey players. Sweden have many hokcey players and a high hockey population due to many icehockey rinks. There are more hockey rinks in Stockholm than Norway.

Norway, Denmark and Lithuania have a low hockey population due to lack of icehockey rinks.

If Denmark, Norway and Lithuania had the same number of rinks as Sweden they would all be very well represented in the NHL. Those countries have poor hockey infrastructure compared to Sweden.
 
Russia will probably overtake us in some years. Many many of our older NHL players will either retire or jump to the SHL and like 90% of our drafted prospects ends at busts or becomes 4th liners in the NHL.
 
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Yozhik v tumane said:
At least 20 GP, 5 min avg TOI:

Canada 306
USA 222
Sweden 63
Russia 39
Finland 31
Czech Republic 19
Switzerland 9
Germany 7
Slovakia 7
Denmark 4
Latvia 3
Belarus 2
France 2
Norway 2
Australia 1
Austria 1
Netherlands 1
Slovenia 1

Of course this isn’t a flawless method. Is Matt Rempe an NHL regular? He didn’t meet the GP threshold and barely cleared 5 min avg TOI this season. Is Nicklas Bäckström a regular or a broken down mess on the brink of retirement? He only played 8 games but averaged 14+ minutes doing so. Both are missing under this method, as is Viktor Arvidsson who only played 18 games following back surgery.

But let’s say you have to have played at least every other game this season to be considered a regular, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a benchwarming plug as long as you’re available for an odd shift half the season: you’ve definitely made it (My condolences to Dougie Hamilton and Mikhail Sergachev: you’re out of the league).

At least 41 GP:

Canada 256
USA 183
Sweden 56
Russia 34
Finland 28
Czech Republic 14
Switzerland 9
Slovakia 7
Germany 6
Denmark 3
Belarus 2
Latvia 2
Australia 1
Austria 1
France 1
Netherlands 1
Norway 1
Slovenia 1

Edit: These numbers are skaters only, too much of a hassle to add goaltenders using nhl.com.
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Czechs have 8 NHL goalies.. we need them included.lol
 
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beowulf said:
Where did you get that data on the eliteprospect website? Below is what it shows for me.

PLAYER NATIONALITIES​

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Now Sweden and Finland have more since i checked yesterday:huh:

Screenshot_9.png
 
FunkySeeFunkyDo said:
No Lithuanians and no Danes. Someone (probably on this site) explained to me that the reason there were so many Swedes in the NHL as compared to Norweigians and Danes was the amount of population that lived near a coastline. But still, c’mon Denmark, step up your NHL game.
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There is 6 danes in NHL
 
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Sanf said:
Swedens numbers I feel are the most crazy. 20 years ago there was roughly same amount of Europeans in NHL. Sweden had then 52. Well few other countries has increased their NHLers. But mainly all the slots has been filled by Swedes. Quite invasive. :)
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I see a lot more than a 100 europeans , 20 years ago.
www.quanthockey.com

NHL Totals by Nationality ‑ 2003‑2004 Stats

NHL Totals by Nationality - 2003-2004 Regular Season Stats
www.quanthockey.com www.quanthockey.com

www.quanthockey.com

NHL Totals by Nationality ‑ 2023‑2024 Stats

NHL Totals by Nationality - 2023-2024 Regular Season Stats
www.quanthockey.com www.quanthockey.com
 
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I don't know what it finished at, but when you break it down further by Province/State, Minnesota passed Quebec (population 8.3MM) and Alberta (4.4MM) for the first time this season in December, second only to Ontario (14.7MM) for active NHLers. Very cool advancement for the current state of hockey in the US' State of Hockey.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nort...ta-for-second-most-nhl-skaters-behind-ontario

For total population references, MN (5.7MM) is just slightly ahead of Finland (5.3MM,) and about half of Sweden at 10.5MM people. Michigan in 2nd for US states with a total population of 10MM.
 
Eye of Ra said:
Based on?
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Trends? Using those quanthockey player counts, American players make up 28% of players in 23-24 compared to 16% in 03-04. Canadians at 42% in 23-24 compared to 54% in 03-04.

Add in the 10x population disparity between the States and Canada and the fact that youth participation rates in Canada are on the decline while increasing in the States. Cost of living here is a significant factor I'd imagine.

Fairly qualitative but that's why I won't be surprised. Not saying it's imminent.
 
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swiiscompos said:
One thing I noticed about Swiss players: if they are not confident they will play full time in the NHL they prefer to stay in Switzerland where they still get nice salaries with a higher quality of life. Other European leagues, apart from the KHL, don’t pay as well.
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Which probably also speaks to why Switzerland probably has the best high end average out of all those countries.

Josi, Hischier, Meier, Fiala. That’s 40%.
 
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