Reading the 2013 NHL franchise valuations from Forbes.com, one comes to the conclusion that Quebec City’s getting an expansion franchise.

Why wouldn’t they? The latest figures show the financial scale tipped so far in Canada’s advantage when it comes to ticket sales – not to mention the massive Canadian television contract – that putting another franchise (or two) nord of da border would seem like a no-brainer for the NHL.

Here’s the skinny, via Forbes:

The average NHL team TISI +0.46% now has an enterprise value (equity plus net debt) of $413 million, 46% more than a year ago. For the first time since Forbes began tracking NHL team values in 1998, three of the league’s five most valuable teams–Toronto Maple Leafs($1.15 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($775 million), Vancouver Canucks ($700 million)–are Canadian (the New York Rangers ($850 million) and defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks ($625 million) are the two U.S. teams to make the top five). And this is also the first time that every Canadian franchise ranks among the top 16 in the 30 team league.

Obviously much of that Canadian windfall comes from supply-and-demand, as teams can charge exorbitant amounts for tickets knowing there are fans that will pay it 41 times per season. From Forbes:

Last season, six of the seven Canadian teams charged an average ticket price for non-premium seats of at least $70, compared with a league average of $64. And the five most expensive average ticket prices were charged by Canadian franchises–Toronto ($120), Montreal ($99), Winnipeg Jets ($95), Vancouver ($90), Edmonton Oilers ($79). Ticket revenues in the NHL are the Mother’s Milk of profits because the home team keeps 100% of the gate. The top teams in gate receipts-per-game last season: Toronto ($2.2 million), Montreal ($2.1 million), Vancouver ($1.8 million), New York Rangers ($1.8 million), and Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers tied at ($1.6 million).

Coming up, the franchise values for all 30 NHL teams, and how they’ve risen or fallen from last season.

Via Forbes, here are the franchise values for the NHL in 2013. Here’s the disclaimer on the valuations:

“Our data comes primarily from sports bankers, public documents (municipal arena leases and financial reports), consultants who provide research and conduct studies for cities on the economic impact of an NHL team, arena naming rights and arena financing, credit rating agencies, player agents, network and cable executives, arena operators and, in a few cases, the teams themselves. Our revenue figures include proceeds from non-NHL events that go to the team owner, such as concerts, and subtract arena-generated funds that are used to pay arena debt.”

Here they are:

RANK TEAM CURRENT VALUE (Millions) % CHANGE FROM 2012 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1,150 15 2 New York Rangers 850 13 3 Montreal Canadiens 775 35 4 Vancouver Canucks 700 105 5 Chicago Blackhawks 625 79 6 Boston Bruins 600 72 7 Philadelphia Flyers 500 49 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 480 67 9 Detroit Red Wings 470 36 10 Los Angeles Kings 450 63 11 Calgary Flames 420 71 12 Washington Capitals 414 66 13 San Jose Sharks 405 82 14 Edmonton Oilers 400 78 15 Ottawa Senators 380 73 16 Winnipeg Jets 340 70 17 Colorado Avalanche 337 60 18 Dallas Stars 333 39 19 Minnesota Wild 330 51 20 New Jersey Devils 320 56 21 Anaheim Ducks 300 56 22 Buffalo Sabres 250 43 23 Florida Panthers 240 41 24 Nashville Predators 205 23 25 Phoenix Coyotes 200 49 26 New York Islanders 195 26 27 Carolina Hurricanes 187 15 28 St. Louis Blues 185 42 29 Tampa Bay Lightning 180 3 30 Columbus Blue Jackets 175 21

A few reactions:

• The Blue Jackets’ valuation was heavily influenced by their lack of attendance, as they played to an 80 percent capacity last season.

• The New Jersey Devils have the highest percentage of debt to value at 81 percent, which is an extraordinary figure. (The Phoenix Coyotes, recently rescued from bankruptcy, are next at 62 percent.) And yet they found a new owner. Hell of an arena, The Rock.

• The New York Islanders generated the lowest amount of revenue last season at $61 million, which should be remedied when they move into Brooklyn’s state-of-the-art arena. Next lowest: The Colorado Avalanche at 67 million.

• There wasn’t a single team in the NHL last lost value from year to year, with the Vancouver Canucks showing a 105-percent increase in value.

• Finally, a note about how NHL teams fiddle around with their numbers, via Forbes:

The Blackhawks claim to be losing money despite having won two of the last four Stanley Cups and playing in the third-biggest U.S. market. Team owner Rocky Wirtz might be able to truthfully make that claim because he parks certain arena revenue, like suites rentals, at a separate joint venture that owns the United Center. But since Wirtz owns 50% of the JV we give a proportional share of the JV’s revenue and expenses to the Blackhawks.

Remember kids: NHL teams have many recipes by which to cook their books, depending on what they’re after (COUGHrevenuesharingCOUGH).