NHL merchandise has been a staple of hockey fandom for decades. Hockey jerseys are loved even by people who don’t closely follow the sport, while the trading card space remains a hit among collectors.
NHL merchandise has been a staple of hockey fandom for decades. Hockey jerseys are loved even by people who don’t closely follow the sport, while the trading card space remains a hit among collectors.
However, merchandise sales directly from the team stores or sites like Fanatics swing each season. The New York Rangers are the exception to this rule as the New York team is regularly reported as being the top-selling team, with merch swiftly leaving shelves both in Canada and North America, and in more distant continents like Europe through sites like FansMania.
The true value of NHL merchandise, or any sports merchandise, is always fully revealed much further down the line. In a recent study of popular collectible platforms like eBay, Goldin, Pristine Auction, Heretics Auctions, Myslab, and Fanatics, it was revealed how many collectibles for each team are available, as well as the prices fetched for the most desirable pieces. Here’s what the study reveals about where fans see the most value.
As you’d guess, as more time goes on, more fans who own merchandise from particularly successful spells see the value of those pieces as having increased. Knowing this, you can see a time bracket shown by the number of collectible merchandise pieces available compared to the famed periods of success in the findings of a recent merch study from Betano.
The Montréal Canadiens were at their most dominant from 1956 to 1960. During that era, the Habs secured five straight Stanley Cups. After a brief interruption by the Chicago Black Hawks, the Toronto Maple Leafs enjoyed their own golden run, winning four championships between 1962 and 1967. That run was broken up by the Habs. Before the end of the 1970s, the Canadiens added another four-Cup streak.
After the New York Islanders repeated what the Habs had just done to open the 1980s, the famed Edmonton Oilers dynasty got underway. The 1984/85 season showcases arguably the greatest NHL team of all-time. They won the 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990 Stanley Cups. Seeing this and thinking back to that time bracket moving along to merch sales, it tracks that the Habs have the most on the market, followed by the Buds, and then the Oilers.
You might think a 1983/84 Nike Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky 1st Stanley Cup Jersey White Tag XI or a Wayne Gretzky Complete O-Pee-Chee Career Collection trading card would be the most expensive collectibles. Interestingly, one of the most valuable items comes from a more recent era, showing how current stars can command immense value too.
Topping the list as the most expensive listed collectible is The Cup Leon Draisaitl #1/1 Property of Game Used Stick 1/1 Oilers Platinum Gem. This piece of Oilers memorabilia recently sold for $141,710. The combined price of the most expensive sticks from each team amounted to $263,813. This means that the Draisaitl stick makes up 53.72 percent of the total cost, if you were to buy each of the most expensive collectible hockey sticks.
For sellers, there often seems to be a waiting period before testing the collectibles market. For buyers, especially when it comes to sticks, recent star performances can fuel strong demand and high prices — highlighting how both history and the present keep shaping the market.
