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Ice Lab

Centre · #20

Jiri Kulich

Buffalo Sabres
Age
22
Shoots
Left
Height
185 cm
Weight
88 kg
Born
Kadan, CZE
Draft
2022, round 1, #28 (BUF)

Career · 2023–24 to 2026–27

Games
78
Goals
19
Points
31
TOI per game
14:56
xGF% (5v5)
50.3%
Goals above expected
−1.1

Season by season

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

2023–24BUF1000−114:5310.0%00.037.5%
2024–25BUF6215924−414:4813411.2%016.751.1%
2025–26BUF12325−416:222015.0%02.744.3%
2026–27BUF3112+212:04425.0%00.767.0%
Total1 team78191231−714:5615911.9%020.150.3%

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)
00.20.40.60.810203040506070
13m14m15m16m17m10203040506070Game

Player card

Model-based

How 2023–24 to 2026–27 compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

2nd line

72nd percentile among qualified forwards, blending scoring 40%, play-driving 40%, usage 20%.

  1. 1st line
  2. 2nd line
  3. 3rd line
  4. 4th line
  5. Extra / AHL

Scoring

2nd line
  • Goals /600.9876th pct
  • Assists /600.6220th pct
  • ixG /601.0483rd pct
  • Goals above expected−1.149th pct

Play-driving

2nd line
  • xGF% (5v5)50.3%60th pct
  • CF% (5v5)51.5%74th pct
  • Relative xGF%+2.177th pct
  • Penalty diff /600.1054th pct

Usage

2nd line
  • TOI per game14:5661st pct
  • PP time share31.6%61st pct
  • Offensive zone starts56.4%54th pct
  • Quality of competition25.2%82nd pct

Percentiles among forwards 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. Alex Nylander0.87
  2. Ben Kindel0.84
  3. Warren FoegeleLAK0.84
  4. Timo MeierNJD0.83
  5. Zach HymanEDM0.81
  6. Anders LeeNYI0.81

Faceoffs

How often Kulich wins the draw over 2023–24 to 2026–27, against whom and where, and what a win leads to. Ranked among players with 624+ draws over the same seasons.

Win rate

44.8%

334–412 · #163 of 189 regulars, 14th percentile

Against an average centre

45.5%

Opponents won 50.7% of their draws; an average centre would have won 49.3% against them.

Wins above average

−34

Draws won beyond what an average centre facing the same opponents would have won.

Draws per game

10.4

746 draws in all.

By dot, attacking to the right

43%163 · −0.545%195 · +0.938%77 · +1.840%35 · +0.158%24 · −0.343%23 · +0.140%15 · −2.248%128 · −0.249%86 · +1.0Attacking zone →← Defending zone

Win rate at each dot; the small numbers are draws and the xG swing (×100) of winning rather than losing there.

By zone

  • Offensive zone43.0% 117–155
  • Neutral zone43.8% 114–146
  • Defensive zone48.1% 103–111

By strength

  • Even strength44.9% 307–377
  • Power play46.8% 22–25
  • Shorthanded33.3% 5–10

What a win leads to

Shot attempts in the next 20 seconds, for minus against, per 100 draws: +18 after a win, −6 after a loss. Each win was worth 0.2 expected goals per 100 draws more than a loss.

Most-faced opponents

Season by season

SeasonDrawsWin rateAgainst average
2023–2410.0%14.0%
2024–2555845.5%45.8%
2025–2616341.7%44.0%
2026–272450.0%50.5%

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.

−1.1 goals above expected

0510152010203040506070Game

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

−30−20−100+10+20+30+40+50

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 speed35.2 km/h78th pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph669th pct
  • Hardest shot139.9 km/h92nd pct
  • Distance skated10 km37th pct
  • Offensive-zone time42.7%60th pct
Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other forwards 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 forwardMiddle 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

35.3 km/h24th pct

▼ −0.5 km/h since 2024–25

33343536373823–2424–2525–262023–24: 33.5 km/h, 1st percentile (1 games, too few to rank reliably)2024–25: 35.8 km/h, 38th percentile (62 games)2025–26: 35.3 km/h, 24th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

9.283rd pct

▼ −0.1 since 2024–25

24681023–2424–2525–262023–24: 4.0, 36th percentile (1 games, too few to rank reliably)2024–25: 9.2, 82nd percentile (62 games)2025–26: 9.2, 83rd percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)

Distance skated per 60

16.1 km82nd pct

▼ −0.1 km since 2024–25

14.51515.51616.523–2424–2525–262023–24: 15.3 km, 35th percentile (1 games, too few to rank reliably)2024–25: 16.1 km, 82nd percentile (62 games)2025–26: 16.1 km, 82nd percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)

Hardest shot

139.7 km/h53rd pct

▼ −5.5 km/h since 2024–25

05010015020023–2424–2525–262023–24: 0.0 km/h, 0th percentile (1 games, too few to rank reliably)2024–25: 145.2 km/h, 75th percentile (62 games)2025–26: 139.7 km/h, 53rd percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)

Offensive-zone time

41.4%44th pct

▼ −1.6 points since 2024–25

25%30%35%40%45%50%23–2424–2525–262023–24: 29.6%, 0th percentile (1 games, too few to rank reliably)2024–25: 43.0%, 65th percentile (62 games)2025–26: 41.4%, 44th percentile (12 games, too few to rank reliably)