As the puck drops on the 2022-23 NHL season this week, Twitter has released its most recent metrics about the league’s teams and how fans interact with them.
The Twitter account of the New York Rangers — the NHL’s most valuable franchise and the first to reach a $2 billion valuation, per Forbes — was the most mentioned on the social media site last season. The team’s hashtag “#NYR” was the second-most used across the league in 2021-22.
The most used hashtag (“#GoAvsGo”) belonged to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche — who also had the NHL’s second-most mentioned Twitter handle last season.
Coming in at third on both lists were the Toronto Maple Leafs — the second-most valuable franchise in the league ($1.8B).
Their popularity on social media may have been driven in part by their star player: 2021-22 Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews had the most mentioned Twitter handle among players last season.
He’s come a long way since his very first tweet back in 2013.
As a whole, the league showed a robust presence on Twitter internationally — 39% of all NHL conversation last season came from accounts outside of the United States.
And after remaining mostly dormant over the summer, fans are ready for the action to heat up on the ice: Global conversation about the NHL increased 41% from August to September, and usage of the hockey stick emoji grew 33% over the same period.
