NHL Player Files Bankruptcy, Has $50 Million in Debt

An NHL player and his wife have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing up to $50 million worth of debt, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Robin Lehner, a goalie for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, filed on Dec. 30 with his wife, and the companies they own money to are located in multiple states, including Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin. This comes months after Eclipse Service Inc., the company based in Wisconsin, sued Lehner for $4 million claiming the NHL player and his father failed to make payments on a business loan last year.

Lehner and his father, Michael, are listed as principal members in a Nevada business license filing for Solarcode. In January 2022, Solarcode agreed to a four-year payment plan with Eclipse Service but missed the first five payments. This led to Eclipse filing a lawsuit against Solarcode in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee. Lehner's debts also included missed payments for a collection of snakes he purchased in 2017 for $1.2 million. He and his wife, Donya, estimate their assets are worth up to $10 million. 

I can’t wait for the @netflix Documentary on Robin Lehner of the @GoldenKnights. He files for bankruptcy after going into $50 Million in debt. Defaulted on a loan trying to buy an exotic snake farm, where the owner was recently murdered by his wife. Sign me up for it...I’m there! pic.twitter.com/68nDWSFFwj

— Jesse Modz (@jessemodz) January 18, 2023

Lehner, 31, joined the Golden Knights in 2020 after signing a five-year, $25 million contract. He has not played in any games this season as his recovering from hip surgery. Last year. Lehner played in 44 games and finished with a 23-17-2 record and had a save percentage of .907. He began his NHL career in 2009 when he was selected No. 46 overall by the Ottawa Senators in the NHL Draft. Since then, Lehner has played for various teams including the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks before joining Las Vegas. He won the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2019 and 2021, and the award is given to the goaltender having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. 

In 2018, Lehner wrote an article for The Athletic about his addiction and being bipolar. "My wife had tried so many times in the past to make me stop and wanted me to get help," Lehner wrote. "I never wanted to listen. She was also scared for me. While I had been thinking about suicide, she had been witnessing that process right in front of her for years. I know she always wanted to help, but I never wanted to show any sign of weakness."