Conor Garland just made millions after being traded away from Vancouver Canucks
Who knew that changing addresses could be so lucrative?
Conor Garland’s new life with the Columbus Blue Jackets is off to a dream start. The diminutive winger is scoring goals. He’s playing in a top-six role. Columbus is winning games.
Heck, Garland is even making Blue Jackets history after just one week with the team.
You could say his new home offers him multiple benefits that weren’t available when he was with the Vancouver Canucks
“I just feel like, the way they play, they compete,” he said. “They’re very serious about their craft, and it’s just a fun group to be a part of.”
Life seems good for Garland on the ice, but he’s got even more reason to be pumped about the move to Ohio.
One of them is: he just got a lot richer.
Canada’s high tax rates have long been seen as a deterrent for players wanting to join NHL teams north of the border.
Brad Marchand said it was a reason why the Florida Panthers were able to keep the band together after their 2025 Stanley Cup win. Even Jamie Benn cracked a joke about it when asked about selling Tyler Myers on joining the Dallas Stars.
Garland was certainly committed enough to the Canucks to sign a long-term extension, but there’s a clear financial benefit for him joining the Blue Jackets.
With his new six-year contract worth $36 million in total about to kick in on July 1, Garland will literally save millions in taxes by moving to Columbus.
While Ohio doesn’t have zero state income tax, like Texas, Florida, Nevada or Washington, they do have one of the lowest tax rates in the country.
Ohio charges 3.1 per cent state tax on income over $100,000. That’s a small portion of the federal tax rate, which is 37 per cent for the top bracket. The simplified math brings the top tax bracket in Ohio to 40.1 per cent.
Compare that to Garland’s former home in British Columbia, where the top tax bracket is a whopping 20.5 per cent, nearly seven times that of Ohio’s state tax. That makes the total tax payable to high-income earners like Garland 53.5 per cent in British Columbia.
So, what does it mean for the take-home cash?
While factoring in marginal tax rates and other paycheck deductions, like Medicare and Social Security payments from income earned in the United States, along the Canada Pension Plan up north, here’s the difference in Garland’s rough take-home income for the first season of his new US$6 million annual salary.
- Columbus: $3,492,600
- Vancouver: $2,837,060
- Difference: $655,540
Take that difference and stretch it out over the life of Garland’s new six-year deal, and the 30-year-old will save just under $4 million in taxes ($3,933,240) throughout the life of his contract.
Not to mention, real estate might be a little cheaper in Columbus as well.
The actual difference in Garland’s take-home pay is likely a little less than the $4 million difference after factoring in jock taxes, escrows, and agent fees.
But regardless, you have to feel good for a guy who is now loving hockey again, is closer to family, and who just became richer thanks to the Canucks’ ineptitude.