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The Leafs are worth almost seven times the Panthers, says Forbes

Leo Komarov, Andrej Meszaros

Leo Komarov, Andrej Meszaros

AP

Yep, it’s that time of year again. The Forbes rankings of NHL franchise values:

Fueled by a new Canadian media deal with Rogers Communications that begins with the 2014-15 season, the average NHL team value rose 18.6% during the past year, to an all-time high of $490 million. The 12-year, $4.6 billion agreement, which gave Rogers rights to all NHL games in Canada, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, on all of its platforms, in all languages, is worth 2.6 times more annually than the league’s previous Canadian deals.

For the first time the league has three teams–Toronto Maple Leafs ($1.3 billion), New York Rangers ($1.1 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($1 billion)–worth at least ten digits. This is the ninth consecutive year the Maple Leafs are the top team.

Click here for the full list. No big surprises. Only the Panthers saw their value fall, down to $190 million, compared to last year. (Update: apparently Forbes says last year’s number was a mistake and should have been $160 million, so the value of the Panthers actually rose 19 percent.)

The Brooklyn-bound Islanders, meanwhile, had the biggest rise, up 54 percent to $300 million.

Related: Bettman calls Panthers relocation speculation ‘unfounded’