A free agent defenseman has decided to take his talents overseas. Oscar Fantenberg, who spent the 2019-20 season with the Vancouver Canucks, has signed a one-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. The deal carries him through the end of April 2021.
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© Photo: Dan Hickling
A source reported his contract will pay him a base salary of US $325,000 this season with the possibility of an additional US $65,000 in performance incentives. When you deduct the 13% tax that he will pay, his base salary will be US $282,750 or CDN $373,159, give or take. Once all the math is said and done, it works out to a little more than what he would make if he signed with the Canucks for the 2020-2021 season.
Who knows what else went into Fantenberg’s decision-making process, but the financial complexities at play are important to consider.
We don’t know what NHL teams offered him, but for the sake of argument, if he signed up for the league-minimum, US $700,000, 28% of his wage would be taken off the top immediately. First because the players decided to postpone 10% of their wages, which takes the wage down to US $630,000, then because the players also agreed to 20% escrow this season, which is applied after the 10% deduction. That totals a 28% deduction off the original figure bringing the actual paid-out salary to US $504,000.
Working out to CDN $665,154 , give or take. He would face the highest tax bracket in B.C. which on average is 47.45%. Without looking into deductions, and he would have a few surely, his after-tax income, according to simpletax.ca’s calculator, would be CDN $348,906. It’s safe to say that by choosing to play in Russia, he will indeed make more money over the course of the season.