The Leafs have only qualified once for the playoffs in the last five years, but off the ice, the Toronto franchise continues to dominate.

According to Forbes, the Toronto Maple Leafs is the most valuable National Hockey League team for the ninth consecutive year.

The publication released its annual ranking on Tuesday, valuing the Leafs at US $1.3 billion, ahead of the second-place New York Rangers (US $1.1 billion). The Montreal Canadians placed third (US $1 billion), followed by the Chicago Blackhawks (US $825 million), and the Vancouver Canucks (US $800 million).

Forbes says this year's ranking is the second time since they began tracking NHL team valuations in 1998 that three Canadian teams cracked the top five.

Overall, Forbes says the average NHL team value jumped 18.6 per cent during the past year to $490 million.

"The increase is driven by a new Canadian media deal with Rogers Communications," Forbes said.

"The 12-year, (US) $4.6-billion agreement, which gave Rogers rights to 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."

The NHL inked the deal with the media company in November 2013.