All NHL players are being paid for the games they aren’t playing in because of the league suspension due to COVID-19.

In contrast, arena staff who would also have been working those events will not be getting another paycheck any time soon.

Many NHL teams have committed to paying their employees (some, through the end of March; others, until events resume as normal). In some cases, the owners of the teams pledged to do so only after individual players stepped up on their own accord, like the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky.

Team owners have enough money to pay the arena staff during the suspended season.

These are the team owners who are choosing to leave their most vulnerable employees without a paycheck on virtually no notice.

Every name in bold is a billionaire.

The Naughty List

Buffalo Sabres – Terrence Pegula – March 14, announced employees will be paid–for canceled events–by a combination of players, staff, the Buffalo Sabres Foundation, and Pegula Sports and Entertainment. Currently, NHL events are “suspended,” not canceled. March 20, PSE lays off hospitality staff–and will not hold jobs for them. Employees will have to reapply for their current position with no guarantee of keeping the same pay rate.

The Medium List

Dallas Stars – Tom Gaglardi – March 12, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would pay employees for Mavs games, and that they had “already started the process of having a program in place” for other American Airlines Center employees.

– March 12, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would pay employees for Mavs games, and that they had “already started the process of having a program in place” for other American Airlines Center employees. Nashville Predators – Herb Fritch, largest stakeholder and chairman of ownership group (approx. $600 million) – March 12, team committed to paying for “already scheduled shifts and will try to make a plan moving forward for other events lost” including four Preds games.

New York Rangers – James L. Dolan – March 13, they said they have a short-term plan and were working on long-term. March 16, they announced that they would pay employees through March 22, but were still working on long-term.

Some of these ownership situations are more complicated than others. For instance, not all arenas are owned by the same person or group who own the hockey team that plays there, and some arenas’ staff is contracted through other parties. With that being said: we have done our best to present the current situation accurately and as fairly as possible.

Hopefully, these NHL teams and owners will step up soon, and render this article obsolete. Until then we will be updating as more information or decisions are made public.

This post has been updated to include a list of teams that have announced they will have a plan, but have not confirmed it will involve paying arena employees for canceled or postponed events.

Headline photo: Sikander Iqbal