$30 million settlement reached in CHL minimum-wage lawsuit
On Friday, the Canadian Hockey League settled a class-action lawsuit that was filed by former and current junior players. 4,266 players took part in this lawsuit, which has been open since 2014, claiming that they were owed back wages.
The CHL has classified its junior players, who are typically between 16 and 20 years old, as student athletes. This categorization exempts the CHL from following employment legislation. Therefore, they have consistently paid their athletes substantially less than minimum wage. Many are eligible for scholarships and money for expenses such as equipment and travel, but they are not paid a living wage. This group of current and former players decided that they should be viewed as employees and paid as such. Former CHL junior players including Sam Berg, Lukas Walter, Travis McEvoy, Kyle O'Connor and Thomas Gobeil helped this case keep its momentum for nearly six years.
In an effort to end an arduous legal battle, the CHL settled for $30 million. After covering legal fees, the money will be split among the 4,266 players who filed the suit.
The settlement is good news for the players involved, but will have no impact on any other players. The law sided with the CHL and will allow them to continue to consider their players as student athletes, who can be paid less than minimum wage.
This case brought attention to some of the unjust practices of the CHL. They are not entirely in the clear at the end of this lawsuit, as they are also facing an open class-action concussion lawsuit. The CHL has been under a microscope throughout this case, which may not change until they change their policies.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||