Players on the Toronto Rock 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 Rock 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 Toronto Rock?
These figures are in Canadian dollars.
Rookies at Toronto Rock 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 Rock’ 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. This comes with a one-year contract of about CAN$62,500 for the season.
To my knowledge, the Toronto Rock haven’t applied a franchise tag this season.
This is the summary of all the tiers:
Which Toronto Rock Players Are The Top Earners?
Challen Rogers had a fine season in which he scored a career high in goals and points (21 and 49 respectively).
At the end of the 2021/22 season, he was picked for the All-League second team.
You might think that this brings him an increase in salary for the current season. But Rogers signed an unusually long contract of seven years in the summer of 2020.
Longer contracts tend to be a little lower than if a player holds out for a one-year contract.
We expect that Challen’s base contract is near the maximum salary tier of just over CAN$50K.
Because he’s had an exceptional season, the club can go to the bonus pool and top up his earnings by an extra three to four thousand dollars.
So, who else is a top earner at the Rock?
Mitch de Snoo signed a three-year contract in November 2022 after an outstanding season that saw him pick up the award for NLL defenseman of the year.
That was just the right time to be negotiating a new deal!
We expect Mitch to be at the top end of the veteran’s tier, while getting extra funds from the bonus pool.
Veteran goalie Nick Rose was nominated as Goaltender Of The Year but lost out to Matt Vinc.
He negotiated a one-year contract in August 2022. As one of the oldest veterans on the team, we expect him to be on the maximum tier of CAN$50K.
Which Rock Players Earn The Least?
Phil Mazzuca and Chris Weier were selected in the 2020 Draft.
The duo were on the practice squad last season. This season is their first on the active roster.
Their rookie contracts are just short of CAN$17K.
That makes them the lowest paid players on the team, but not at the club.
When they were on the practice squad they were earning less than this. Players on the practice squad earn about one to two thousand dollars per season.
Players In The PLL
Some players finish their season in the NLL and then play outdoors in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Challen Rogers extended his income in the summer by playing in the PLL for the Chaos Lacrosse Club.
Latrell Harris and Tom Schreiber played for Archers, while TD Ireland turned out for the Waterdogs.
If you’re interested in how much additional income that brings, check out our overview of salaries in the Premier Lacrosse League.
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 Rock players to work alongside their playing career. Some work within the sports industry and some work outside it.
Jamison Dilks works for Toronto Rock both on and off the field. When he’s not playing and training, he manages aspects of the franchise’s athletic centre.
Phil Mazzuca is a sales manager with an Ontario firm that makes hockey apparel.
Outside world
Sheldon Burns is a sales representative with a real estate brokerage.
Daniel Craig is the director of recruitment of an I.T. consultancy firm.
Troy Holochuck is just starting his career as an actuarial analyst. He works with a global financial services company.
How Do Toronto Rock Afford Player Wages?
We have only talked about a few of the players, but there are a lot more.
You can see the current Toronto Rock 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 owner of the Toronto Rock.
