Blackhawks among NHL's most valuable franchises

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The Blackhawks remain one of the most valuable franchises in the NHL, according to Forbes magazine's study of the business of hockey released on Wednesday.

Currently valued at 306 million, the Blackhawks came in at No. 6 on the list, 215 million behind the most valuable franchise -- the Toronto Maple Leafs at 521 million.

The New York Rangers (507 million), Montreal Canadiens (445 million), Detroit Red Wings (336 million) and Boston Bruins (325 million).

According to the study, the average team value hit a record 240 million, but operating income fell 21 percent in the last year due to higher player salaries.

The Blackhawks current value is 2 percent greater than one year ago, but the wealth gap in the league has grown as 18 of the 30 teams are losing money. However, only seven teams are worth less today than they were last year.

However, one big potential problem lays ahead as the league's salary cap, at 57 percent of revenue, is too high for many teams to be profitable. This should cause a difficult set of negotiations when the NHL and players union begin to work on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the current six-year deal that expires in September.

Check out 10 other observations from the Forbes report right here.

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