Cooper Black becomes the tallest goalie to ever play in the NHL at 6-foot-9: How much will he make while playing for Florida Panthers?

Florida Panthers goalie Cooper Black made history in his first game on Thursday, October 22. At 6-foot-9 he has become the tallest goalie to ever play in a regular season game at the National Hockey League. The rookie was honoured with the hockey tradition of skating alone on the area during pregame warmups before the game .

The Panthers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 0-4. Reacting to his first ever NHL game, Black said, “It’s cool, right, growing up, all the guys you kind of saw and watched as a kid, even as a goalie…Cool experience to play against the guys and would have been nicer to win”.

Cooper Black is two inches taller than Ben Bishop, Ivan Fedotov, Mads Sogaard and MIkko Koskinen, according to ESPN. All of them were listed as 6-foot-7, making him the tallest in the league.


Adding to his own record, Black has also aided one for Nick Robertson. Robertson who is 5-foot-9 has become the first player to score a goal against a goalie who was a foot taller than him since 2019. The last was when the 5-foot-6 Rocco Grimaldi scored three against Ben Bishop.

Who is Cooper Black?

The 25-year-old Cooper Black comes from Michigan’s Alpena. According to ESPN he started playing hockey when he was just eight years old. He had a growth spurt between his junior and senior years in high school and shot up from 6-foot to 6-foot-5, and went on growing taller.

Black had been playing for the Florida Panthers’ affiliate in the AHL in Charlotte. He was transferred recently after Panthers' Jacob Markstrom suffered a shoulder injury and had to move out. Playing with the Charlotte Black had made three starts this season, going 2-1-0 with a 2.67 goal-against average. He has a .919 save percentage. Last season with Charlotte he posted 25-13-4 with a .903 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average.

He has also become only the fifth goalie to make a debut for the Panthers. The last was in 2021 with Spencer Knight. He originally joined the Panthers in 2024 as an undrafted free agent. Black made 17 saves in this game.

How much is Cooper Black paid?

The 25-year-old is signed to a two year contract with the Panthers. The contract is worth $1,750,000 and has a cap of $875,000 per season. The contract included a $190,000 signing bonus. His contract expires at the end of the 2027-28 season.

Earlier Black was paid $950,000 during the 2024-25, 2025-25 and the 2025-26 seasons with the Charlotte Checkers and the same amount with the Savannah Ghost Pirates.