Victoria StewartWhen the Edmonton Oilers shipped Brett Kulak to Pittsburgh on December 12, 2025, alongside goaltender Stuart Skinner and a 2029 second-round pick, the 32-year-old defenceman became part of a deal that returned Tristan Jarry and Samuel Poulin to Alberta. Seventy-three days later, on February 24, 2026, the Penguins moved him again — this time to the Colorado Avalanche, in exchange for Sam Girard and a 2028 second-round pick.
For Kulak, two trades in 73 days is not only a hockey story. It is a wealth-planning emergency. His four-year, $11 million contract, carrying a $2.75 million cap hit, expires on July 1, 2026, and Spotrac confirms he will hit unrestricted free agency at age 32. The signing decisions he makes in the next eight weeks will determine the after-tax value of every dollar he earns through 2030.
The Hockey Writers reported that the Oilers "missed him in a big way" during their first-round elimination by the Anaheim Ducks on May 1, 2026. That sentiment matters, because it suggests at least one Canadian-market team is likely to sit in his bidding pool — and the tax math between Edmonton, Denver, and a potential return to Montreal is not even close.
The jock tax: an NHL paycheque looks different in every city
NHL players do not pay income tax only in the province or state where they live. Under what tax practitioners call the "jock tax," visiting professional athletes owe income tax in every U.S. state and Canadian province where they play a game. The Canada Revenue Agency sets out how non-resident athletes are taxed on Canadian-source income and how Canadian residents abroad must report foreign earnings.
For a defenceman like Kulak, who could play 41 road games next season, the math compounds quickly. A $4 million salary signed in Denver triggers Colorado state tax at 4.4 percent, plus a slice of his game-day income in each jurisdiction his team visits. A signing in Alberta, by contrast, carries a top combined marginal rate that can exceed 48 percent for high earners. A signing in Florida or Tennessee — both NHL markets — carries no state income tax at all.
Signing-bonus structure can save six figures a year
A wealth manager who works with professional athletes will tell you the headline cap hit is not the number that matters most. The split between salary and signing bonus is.
Signing bonuses are typically paid on July 1 of each contract year. For Canadian residents, signing bonuses received from a U.S. team can be eligible for a reduced 15 percent withholding rate under the Canada–U.S. tax treaty, rather than the higher withholding that applies to game-day wages. A four-year deal weighted heavily toward signing bonus versus base salary can therefore save a Canadian player hundreds of thousands of dollars in absolute tax cost over the contract.
The catch: the bonus must be structured as an inducement to sign, not as performance pay, and the player must continue to qualify as a Canadian tax resident to claim the treaty benefit. That decision — where to keep a primary residence — has to be made before, not after, the ink is dry.
Five items every NHL UFA needs to lock in before July 1
A qualified wealth manager working with an NHL unrestricted free agent will typically address five items before the contract is signed:
- Residency planning. Determining tax residency under both Canadian and U.S. rules, including the IRS substantial-presence test and treaty tie-breakers for dual-status years.
- Bonus-versus-salary split. Negotiating contract structure with the player's agent to optimize after-tax value across the full term.
- Cross-border retirement integration. Coordinating Canadian RRSP holdings with U.S. employer benefits to avoid double taxation and surprise penalty taxes on contributions.
- Investment-vehicle structure. Using Canadian and U.S. holding companies appropriately, particularly for endorsement and image-rights income, which is taxed differently from playing income.
- Estate documents. Updating wills, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations to reflect cross-border asset locations and family situations.
Players who skip these conversations until after signing routinely find themselves locked into structures that cost five or six figures annually in unnecessary tax.
The Kulak case: what each potential destination would cost
If Kulak signs a hypothetical two-year, $5 million contract on July 1, the after-tax math could shake out roughly as follows, before jock-tax offsets and treaty optimization:
- Edmonton or Calgary (Alberta): roughly $2.55 million net after federal and provincial tax.
- Colorado (current team): approximately $2.85 million net after federal and state tax.
- Florida (Panthers, Lightning): roughly $3.15 million net, with no state income tax.
The $600,000 swing between Edmonton and a Florida destination over a single season is not theoretical — it is the kind of variance that has steered veteran free agents toward low-tax markets for the past decade. With a well-structured signing-bonus weighting, the gap can be narrowed meaningfully, but not closed.
The eight-week window matters more than the contract length
For Brett Kulak — and for any of the dozens of UFA defencemen who will sign new deals this summer — the window between season-end exit interviews and July 1 is when the wealth-planning decisions actually get made. A wealth manager experienced with professional athletes can help model after-tax outcomes across competing offers, structure signing bonuses for treaty efficiency, and confirm residency planning before tax residency becomes a problem rather than an opportunity.
This article is general information, not personalized tax or financial advice. Every player's cross-border situation is different, and treaty positions should be reviewed by a qualified professional before signing.
Find a wealth-management expert who works with professional athletes through Expert Zoom — and have the cross-border conversation before the offer sheets arrive.
