Each year, hockey reaches more and more people and nations than ever before. This year, the Milano Cortina Olympics showed just how much the game has grown. Germany and Switzerland were threats in the quarterfinals, Italy and France scored goals against historical heavyweights, and Canada was usurped by the USA in the gold medal game for the first time since 1980.
Leading up to the Olympics, the qualifying tournament featured a number of non-traditional hockey powers, including Japan, Spain, China, Korea, Iceland, South Africa, Georgia, Thailand, and Turkiye.
Last year, the IIHF welcomed Kenya, Bahrain, and Greece to the federation for the very first time.
The NHL continued its tradition of the Global Series, this year playing games in Germany and Finland. They’ve visited plenty of other countries too, including Australia, China, Japan, and Puerto Rico. Hockey is growing worldwide, and it’s great to see.
For the past few years, The Win Column has done a breakdown for every team in the NHL based on nationality (see 2019, 2020, 2021, 2021–22, 2022 trade deadline, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 here).
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In 2024–25, the nationality breakdown saw quite a few changes. Some countries were added to the list, others dropped off, but ultimately, the diversity in the game is growing, and that’s a good thing. This year’s breakdown is based on the final rosters from all 32 NHL teams, including every single player who played a game for the team they ended the regular season with. For clarity, a player who was traded midseason will show up on their new team’s list, not their original team.
All data is per the NHL website.
NHL nationality breakdown
In the NHL, 43% of players are from Canada, a slight increase of 2% from last year. The USA is a not-so-close second at 29%, even with the percentage from last year.
Teams included in the chart below, and all subsequent charts breaking down nationality, are as follows in order: Canada, USA, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Belarus , Denmark, Latvia, Austria, Norway, Australia, France, Slovenia, Great Britain, Uzbekistan, and South Africa.
There are many players born in one country but representing another one internationally. Some of the lone birth countries represented are: Jordan Spence, who was born in Australia but represents Canada, Arthur Kaliyev, who was born in Uzbekistan but represents the USA, Nathan Walker, who was born in Great Britain but represents Australia, and Harrison Brunicke, who was born in South Africa but represents Canada.
This year marks the final NHL season for future hall-of-famer Anze Kopitar, the best hockey player from Slovenia of all time. So far, at least. The Tampa Bay Lightning drafted Jan Golicic in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, and the 19-year-old is destined for an NHL career.
This season, the NHL features players of 17 different nationalities and 20 birth countries.
The Big Six
It’s easy to see in the graphs above that the Big Six, or the nations of Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, and Russia, are still the countries with the highest representation in the NHL. 98% of NHLers hail from these six nations. However, the drop-off from Czechia, the Big Six country with the fewest players in the NHL, to the next country, Switzerland, is not as significant as it has been in the past.
Broken down even further, most of the Big Six players hail from North America. Canada and the United States make up the majority of players in the NHL (72%), but even within the Big Six, North Americans account for 74% of players. This is down 1% from last year.
Once again, most teams are composed primarily of North American players, though the separation between North America and the rest of the world is not nearly as large as it was for the Big Six. On average, each team has 8.2 players from outside North America or 28% of their roster. The Vancouver Canucks have the most non-North Americans on their roster with 15.
The Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs have the lowest non-North American representation with just four players each.
Looking at the rosters of each team in the NHL shows an interesting rainbow of nationalities spread throughout the league.
By birth country, a few more countries are added to the chart.
Team nationality leaders: Which teams are the most diverse?
The teams that have the most players hailing from each country are as follows:
| Nation | Max Count | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 19 | MTL |
| USA | 14 | ANA |
| Sweden | 9 | VAN |
| Russia | 4 | CBJ, CGY, MIN |
| Finland | 5 | DAL |
| Czechia | 3 | BOS, FLA |
| Switzerland | 3 | NJD |
| Slovakia | 2 | CGY |
| Germany | 2 | EDM |
| Belarus | 2 | WSH |
| Denmark | 1 | CAR, OTT, SEA, TBL, VGK |
| Latvia | 2 | FLA |
| Austria | 1 | DET, MTL, VAN |
| Norway | 1 | DET, MIN, TBL |
| Australia | 1 | STL |
| France | 1 | MTL |
| Slovenia | 1 | LAK |
The global sport of hockey
This breakdown is solely based on the final rosters for all NHL teams, which do omit certain players who played NHL games this year and ended up out of the league by the final day. For example, David Tomasek started with the Edmonton Oilers but left midway through the season to go back to Sweden.
As well, there are lots of players in the minors who are good enough to play in the NHL, but just didn’t manage to get into a game this season. This breakdown is sure to change every season as the game continues to grow worldwide.