A $3 billion price tag for a club that missed the playoffs
The New York Islanders are selling a 15% stake in the franchise, and the number attached to it is $3 billion. Sportico reported the details on Monday, overnight news that lands two days before the team opens its season.
Venture capitalist David Shuman had already been announced as a new minority investor. Until now, though, nobody knew who else was in the group or how big the piece was. The 15% figure and the valuation are the first hard numbers.
They are large ones. In Sportico’s 2025 NHL valuations, the Islanders ranked 14th of 32 teams at $1.93 billion, under the league average of $2.1 billion. A $3 billion mark would lift them level with the Boston Bruins as the fourth-most valuable franchise in the league.
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Where that puts them in the league
Only three clubs sit above that line: the Toronto Maple Leafs at $4.25 billion, the New York Rangers at $3.65 billion and the Montreal Canadiens at $3.3 billion. The Islanders would jump ahead of a lot of bigger-market names to get there.
Owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky bought the team for $485 million twelve years ago. On paper, that stake in the club has grown more than sixfold.
Part of the story is the building. The Islanders co-own UBS Arena in Elmont with Oak View Group and Sterling Equities. The arena cost more than $1 billion to build and opened in November 2021. It will host the 2027 NHL All-Star Game in February.
The ice product is a different story
The on-ice results have not moved with the valuation. The Islanders finished 2025-26 at 43-34-5 for 91 points and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
They get a quick chance to change the tone. The 2026-27 campaign opens Wednesday in Toronto, against the club that sits at the top of the valuation list.
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