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Ice Lab

Defence · #71

Nikolai Knyzhov

San Jose Sharks
Age
28
Shoots
Left
Height
191 cm
Weight
101 kg
Born
Kemerovo, RUS
Draft
Undrafted

Career · 4 seasons

Games
81
Goals
3
Points
12
TOI per game
16:33
xGF% (5v5)
45.4%
Goals above expected
+1.0

Season by season

The regular-season line for each season, with the total, by team for traded players.

2019–20SJS3000−110:490–00.015.3%
2020–21SJS562810−916:44513.9%01.447.5%
After a break: 2022–23SJS12101−1316:091010.0%00.439.6%
2023–24SJS10011−617:3960.0%00.243.5%
Total1 team813912−2916:33674.5%02.045.4%

Form

Rolling averages smooth out single games so the trend shows.

Form, ten-game rolling

Points and individual expected goals per game (left scale), averaged over the previous ten games. Ice time is on the second chart.

Points per gameixG per gameTOI per game (minutes)
00.10.20.30.40.51020304050607080
10m12m14m16m18m20m1020304050607080Game

Player card

Model-based

How 4 seasons compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

Extra / AHL

13th percentile among qualified defencemen, blending scoring 30%, play-driving 50%, usage 20%.

  1. 1st pair
  2. 2nd pair
  3. 3rd pair
  4. Extra / AHL

Scoring

Extra / AHL
  • Goals /600.1332nd pct
  • Assists /600.4014th pct
  • ixG /600.094th pct
  • Shots /603.0014th pct

Play-driving

3rd pair
  • xGF% (5v5)45.4%18th pct
  • CF% (5v5)47.9%37th pct
  • Relative xGF%+0.364th pct
  • xGA /60 (lower is better)2.8313th pct

Usage

3rd pair
  • TOI per game16:3337th pct
  • PP time share3.5%40th pct
  • PK time share17.2%33rd pct
  • Quality of competition24.0%32nd pct

Percentiles among defencemen with 200+ minutes at 5-on-5 and 20+ games. Ratings rank each column's average percentile among the same players and read it as a role on a depth chart (how).

Most similar players this season

  1. Tobias BjornfotLAK0.91
  2. Cal Foote0.90
  3. Gustav Lindstrom0.89
  4. Tim BerniCBJ0.83
  5. Chris Wideman0.82
  6. David Jiricek0.81

Finishing

Model-based

Did the goals match the chances?

Goals against expected goals

Cumulative goals (solid) and individual xG (dashed) through the season. The gap is finishing: above the dashed line, the player scored more than an average shooter would from the same chances.

+1.0 goals above expected

01231020304050607080Game

Goals above expected, everyone at the same position with 20+ games

−10−50+5+10+15

Speed and tracking

From the NHL's EDGE tracking system (2021–22 on): skating speed, shot speed, distance and zone time, for the selected seasons and then every tracked season, to show improvement or decline.

Tracking data (NHL EDGE)

Values from the NHL's puck and player tracking, with the NHL's own league percentile for each. Missing values mean the player wasn't tracked enough.

Tracking

  • Top skating speed36.1 km/h78th pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph622nd pct
  • Hardest shot119.8 km/h5th pct
  • Distance skated40 km17th pct
  • Offensive-zone time37.6%4th pct
Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other defencemen that season with 20+ games. A season in progress appears once half its games are played, as provisional: season bests only grow. Bursts and distance are per 60 minutes of ice time, so seasons with fewer games still compare. Percentiles are on these rates, so they can differ from the NHL's, which are on season totals.

This playerMedian defencemanMiddle half (25th–75th percentile)Hollow dot: too few games to rank, or a season in progress (*, dashed). Dotted line: no NHL games that season.

Top skating speed

36.1 km/h73rd pct

▲ +1.6 km/h since 2022–23

3434.53535.53636.522–2323–242022–23: 34.5 km/h, 26th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 36.1 km/h, 73rd percentile (10 games, too few to rank reliably)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

2.065th pct

▼ −0.1 since 2022–23

0.511.522.5322–2323–242022–23: 2.2, 74th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 2.0, 65th percentile (10 games, too few to rank reliably)

Distance skated per 60

13.7 km61st pct

▲ +0.2 km since 2022–23

1313.213.413.613.81414.222–2323–242022–23: 13.6 km, 57th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 13.7 km, 61st percentile (10 games, too few to rank reliably)

Hardest shot

119.8 km/h0th pct

▼ −19.7 km/h since 2022–23

11012013014015016022–2323–242022–23: 139.4 km/h, 7th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 119.8 km/h, 0th percentile (10 games, too few to rank reliably)

Offensive-zone time

37.6%5th pct

▼ −0.1 points since 2022–23

36%38%40%42%44%46%22–2323–242022–23: 37.7%, 6th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 37.6%, 5th percentile (10 games, too few to rank reliably)