Players on the Saskatchewan Rush active roster have rising salaries based on experience and performance.
The franchise usually offers one or two-year deals. They sometimes lock younger players into longer contracts. Top players are often on one-year contracts at the top salary level.
The NLL has a salary cap. However, the Halifax franchise can provide top-ups from a discretionary bonus pool. Read on for the details.
How We Calculate Salaries
NLL franchises don’t publish player salaries. However, some details across the league leak out during annual negotiations between the NLL and the players association.
Our calculations are based on salary levels reported in 2018. We’ve adjusted them upwards to represent further gains by the player association since then.
We also know that each club has a CAN$40,630 bonus pool that can be used to pay players more than the league maximum.
The Rush doesn’t have to pay out the full CAN$40K. But they must distribute at least CAN$21,670 each season.
How Much Do Players Earn At Saskatchewan Rush?
Rookies at Saskatchewan Rush receive a base contract of about CAN$17K. Their second year brings an increased contract of $20-$28K.
The minimum for veterans is $25K. The maximum base contract for the most valued veterans is $50K.
The average salary across the Rush’ playing roster is CAN$33,760K.
Apart from the average, the above numbers are rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars. The raw numbers are in the table below.
The figures we’ve listed may seem low for hard-working athletes. But bear in mind that the NLL season is about six months long.
I’ve included the pro-rata monthly equivalent in the table below.
| Status | Annual (CAN$) | Monthly (CAN$) |
| Rookies | 16,949 | 2,825 |
| Second-year minimum | 20,250 | 3,375 |
| Second-year maximum | 27,614 | 4,602 |
| Veteran minimum | 25,180 | 4,197 |
| Veteran maximum | 50,031 | 8,338 |
Franchise Tag Exception
There is one exception where a player’s base contract can be above the maximum we specified above.
Every club can offer what’s known as a franchise tag to one player per season.
It ties the player from switching to another team. It also comes with the highest contract at the club.
The Saskatchewan Rush approached three players in succession in the summer of 2022 to try to apply the tag. The third time was the charm!
First, they approached Kyle Rubisch but he rejected the franchise status.
Next up was Chris Corbeil. Not only did Corbeil reject it, the player held off on accepting a deal from the Rush and became a free agent. He has since moved to the Toronto Rock.
Finally, the Rush applied the tag to Ryan Dilks.
That means his base contract is about CAN$62,500 for the season.
This is the summary of all the tiers:
Which Saskatchewan Rush Players Are The Top Earners?
We’ve already mentioned Ryan Dilks as having the highest base contract in the current season.
But Dilks is likely earning more than that base figure. The player was made captain for the 2022/23 season.
The extra duties that come with the captaincy also brings extra funds from the bonus pool. We expect his earnings were topped up with an extra $3K.
So, who else is a top earner at the Rush?
Kyle Rubisch had an outstanding season in 2021/22. He was nominated for the NLL Defensive Player Of The Year.
It seems like this veteran has been around forever, and there’s no doubt that he was on the maximum veteran’s salary of about CAN$50K.
We expect that the defender’s total earnings have gone nicely about the maximum through a top-up from the bonus pool in the 2022/23 season.
Which Rush Players Earn The Least?
Austin Madronic was the sixth overall pick in the 2022 Entry Draft.
The Rush put him on the active roster at the start of the new season. His rookie contract is just shy of CAN$17K.
But he isn’t the lowest-paid player at the club.
Players on the practice squad earn about one to two thousand dollars per season.
Players Double-Jobbing In The PLL
Some players finish their season in the NLL and then play outdoors in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Holden Garlent extended his income in the summer by playing in the PLL for the Cannons Lacrosse Club.
If you’re interested in how much additional income that brings, check out our overview of player earnings at Cannons.
Other Employment Inside And Outside The Lacrosse World
NLL players are employed by their franchise for about six months of the year.
They also don’t train full-time during the season. The standard schedule is to travel for training on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
That allows Rush players to work alongside their playing career.
Matthew Dinsdale is the studio manager at a gym in Port Moody.
Daniel Lintner works as the recruiting lead at an I.T. services and consulting firm.
Mark Matthews sells real estate with a brokerage in Whitby, Ontario.
How Do Saskatchewan Rush Afford Player Wages?
We have only talked about a few of the players, but there are a lot more.
You can see the current Saskatchewan Rush player roster here.
You may be wondering if gate receipts are enough to cover player wages now and in the future.
Fans understandably get worried about whether the franchise owners can withstand financial pressures in uncertain times.
Check out our review of the owners of the Saskatchewan Rush.
