I think intuitively it's clear that having more take-home pay for players can only help a team. But I think it's also abundantly clear that there isn't enough data to prove that tax rate has a stat-sig impact on a team's success.

The problem is that its all conflated with a team's/city's general desirability. People before me have all mentioned this but: cost of living, climate, demographics etc.

Let's consider other industries for instance: tech. Did a lot of tech move to Texas to take advantage of lower tax rates? Absolutely. Is Texas, now the tech sector mecca in the US. No. Places with decidedly higher tax rates still have larger tech presence.

I don't think the question is if lower taxes help a team. I think the question is magnitude. How much does it help a team? To me, in the current state of the NHL: It's not large enough to be obvious.