As someone who watches hockey religiously as I do, I recently asked my brother why MLB Players are getting paid more money than NHL Players. We believe that hockey players should be paid a lot more than they are because they are more essential than any specific player in baseball. For this example, I am picking Robbie Ray, a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, and comparing him to Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Robbie Ray signed a 5-year contract with the Mariners for $115 million, while Connor McDavid’s current contract is eight years for $100 million yearly.

Our first argument that we brought up is that pitchers are asked to pitch every five days while an NHL player is asked to jump over the boards for their shift every 45 seconds to a minute. So, if a player like Ray is being asked to pitch every five days, why does he deserve to be making 15 million dollars more than McDavid, who is playing double the time? This is a question often asked in sports, and I genuinely don’t understand why certain sports pay their athletes more money than others. However, Connor McDavid, an NHL Superstar, deserves to be paid more than an MLB pitcher who is needed once a week.

The final argument that my brother and I were discussing is the fact that even bench players in the MLB get paid more than some NHL players. This shouldn’t be the case because NHL players are putting their bodies into far worse conditions than baseball players. Hockey players must be able to handle a puck while skating on ice on a smaller playing surface, while baseball players have a vast space to fill during their playing time. Therefore, MLB Players that are just needed in case of emergencies or towards the end of the game shouldn’t be paid more than the average NHL player. An MLB bench or utility player, on average, makes around $30 million a season, while the average NHL player makes only $3.5 million a year. This shows that NHL players aren’t given the respect they deserve compared to other athletes.