Whether it’s an Original Six franchise or one of the more recent teams to join the league, all NHL teams have one thing in common: they possess dedicated fan bases. And while some may appear to be more dedicated than others – at least in how they fill up their team’s respective arena – they are all dedicated nonetheless.
Around Halloween, we took a look at the NHL teams that had the highest average attendance over the past five seasons, with the Montreal Canadiens emerging as the top dog. But what about the teams at the opposite end of the spectrum? Today, we will be laying out five teams with the lowest average attendance over the past five seasons.
For the purposes of this list, we will be excluding the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons due to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the league’s attendance numbers during that period. With that in mind, we will focus on the average attendance numbers from the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Additionally, we will be omitting both the Arizona Coyotes and the Utah Mammoth from this list. While both of these teams would have made up the top two spots on the list, the now-defunct Coyotes played in Mullett Arena, which has an NHL capacity of 4600, during their final two NHL seasons from 2022-23 to 2023-24. This extremely low attendance capacity, compared to other teams, felt unfair to include in this list.
With the Mammoth, firstly, the team has been in the league for less than two seasons, and secondly, their attendance numbers themselves have been greatly hindered by renovations to convert their arena, the Delta Center, from the strictly basketball home of the Utah Jazz of the NBA, to an arena that can better house NHL hockey. So, including the Mammoth, like with the Coyotes, felt a bit unfair.
With that in mind, let’s get to it.
5. Anaheim Ducks
When you account post-season and even regular-season success, the Anaheim Ducks finding themselves in the basement of the league’s average attendance numbers does not come as a surprise. In the five seasons analyzed, the Ducks averaged just 15,821 fans per game, while their arena, the Honda Center, has a hockey attendance capacity of 17,174; much of this can be attributed to the team’s lack of success over the past half-decade or so.
The Ducks’ downward attendance trajectory has coincided with the franchise's longest playoff drought, which now stands at seven seasons – the third-longest active post-season absence in the league. However, the Ducks had their highest attendance since 2018-19 last season, with an average of 15,806 per game according to HockeyDB. With the team currently leading the Pacific Division and looking dominant, that number could easily rise, especially if the Ducks continue to thrive and return to the playoffs.
4. New Jersey Devils
While the New Jersey Devils have been an overall successful franchise in the team’s 42-year history, winning three Stanley Cups and making the post-season 24 times during that span, a more recent lack of playoff success or even qualification has caused the team’s attendance totals to slip in recent years.
In the five seasons analyzed for this list, the Devils had an average attendance of 15,738.4 per game, nearly 2000 less than the Prudential Center’s hockey capacity of 17,625. And since the last time the Devils made it to the Cup final in 2011-12, the team has only surpassed the 17,000 mark twice. The first time was the 2012-13 season, also a lockout-shortened season, then in 2023-24, the team had an impressive average attendance of 17,598.
If the Devils can achieve more significant playoff success this season and beyond, and we believe they likely can, perhaps their attendance average can shift out of the league’s basement.
3. New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are an interesting case, as the team hasn’t performed poorly necessarily. The team has made the playoffs in eight of the last 13 seasons, and two of those appearances saw them make it to the Eastern Conference finals in 2020 and 2021, and 2023-24 saw the team post their best average attendance total in Islanders history with 18,099.
However, last season, a season where the team failed to make the post-season, the Islanders saw that number dip to 15,979. Another factor at play for the team is their attendance numbers from when they played at Barclays Center from 2015-16 to 2019-20, where the hockey capacity was just 15,795. During the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, the Islanders weren’t even able to reach that capacity, averaging 12,627 in those two seasons, and those years significantly reduced the average for the purposes of this list to 15,248.8.
Hopefully, the new-look Islanders, led by top rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, can get more fans in the seats and allow them to thrive again.
2. San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a victim of a lack of recent success, and that is why they find themselves with the second-lowest spot on this list. As a whole, the Sharks’ franchise history has been filled with success, with the team, despite never winning a Stanley Cup, missing the playoffs only six times between 1991-92 and 2018-19. But it is in more recent years that the Sharks have faltered, and it is reflected in their attendance numbers.
The Sharks have been a rebuilding team for the past few seasons and have missed the playoffs for the past six seasons. If you look at their season-to-season attendance averages, the peaks that they reached in years like 2014-15, with 18,708 in attendance on average, have fallen off to an average of 15,092 in the years discussed in this list.
There is some hope for a resurgence as the current 2025-26 average of 14,832 is the highest the team has had since the 2019-20 season, but with the team still struggling to make any real noise in the Pacific Division, it may still be some time before we see the SAP Center filled to its capacity.
1. Winnipeg Jets
Considering the regular-season success the Winnipeg Jets have had in recent memory – notably last season when they won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best regular-season record in the NHL – it may be a shock to see the Jets at the bottom in average league attendance, yet here they are. And while the reason for this could simply be attributed to the fact that the team has the smallest arena capacity at just 15,321, there are bigger issues at play.
Even with this small arena capacity, the Jets have been unable to average a sold-out crowd in all of the last three seasons. Even when you take the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons into account, which together had an average attendance of 15,535, the average for the years included in this list still comes out to a concerning 14,594.2.
Even this season, the team is only averaging 14,096 – nearly 300 less on average than last year’s total. Perhaps fans are becoming fed up with tremendous regular-season play followed by playoff mediocrity, but no matter what theory you have, there is only one conclusion, and it’s that the Jets have failed to put butts in the seats in Winnipeg.
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