NHL Players by Country 2025
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5 Countries with the Most NHL Players
Country | # of Active NHL Players (2023-24)↓ | % of Active NHL Players (2023-24) | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Canada | 434 | 42.5% |
 | United States | 288 | 28.2% |
 | Sweden | 101 | 9.9% |
 | Russia | 66 | 6.5% |
 | Finland | 48 | 4.7% |
 | Czech Republic | 32 | 3.1% |
 | Slovakia | 11 | 1.1% |
 | Switzerland | 10 | 1% |
 | Germany | 8 | 0.8% |
 | Denmark | 6 | 0.6% |
 | Latvia | 5 | 0.5% |
 | Belarus | 4 | 0.4% |
 | France | 3 | 0.3% |
 | Norway | 2 | 0.2% |
 | Australia | 1 | 0.1% |
 | Netherlands | 1 | 0.1% |
 | Austria | 1 | 0.1% |
 | Slovenia | 1 | 0.1% |
- Points in hockey are the combination of goals scored and successful assists.
Canada has the Most Players in the NHL
The country that ranks first on the list of NHL players by country is the nation of Canada. This has remained the case for quite some time, as Canada is well-known for producing excellent hockey players. In total, there are 434 active Canadian players in the NHL currently.
As of the 2023-2024 NHL season, these Canadian players have played 149,629 games across their entire careers. This is far greater than even the country with the second-most players in the NHL. The prominence of Canada on such a list is little surprise, given Canada’s love of hockey and the many great hockey players to come out of Canada.
The United States Has The Second-Most Players in the NHL
There are 288 active players from the United States in the NHL, as of the 2023-2024 season. These 288 active players have played 14,428 regular-season games across their careers. The fact that the United States is second in terms of NHL players by nationality is not surprising, given that 25 out of the 32 NHL teams are based in the United States. The other seven teams are based in the United States’ northern neighbor of Canada.
Sweden Accounts for the Third-Most NHL Players
So far, the list of NHL players by country has likely been relatively unsurprising to you. Canada and the US accounting for the most and second-most players in the NHL make sense given the relevant factors. However, one country that you might not have expected to be so high on this list is Sweden.
The nation of Sweden has the third-most players in the NHL, only behind the United States and Canada. There are a total of 101 currently active Swedish players in the NHL. These Swedish players account for 10% of all the active players in the NHL now.
There Are 66 Russian Players in the NHL
You might have expected Russia to be above Sweden on this list. However, there are still a decent number of Russian players in the NHL. There are 66 currently active Russian players in the NHL right now.
In terms of percentages, Russian players account for about 6% of all the currently active players in the NHL now. These currently active Russian NHL players have played 20,320 NHL games in their careers. This is quite impressive given the fact that there are only 66 currently active Russian players in the NHL today.
