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Ice Lab

Left wing · #6

Zach Benson

Buffalo Sabres
Age
21
Shoots
Left
Height
178 cm
Weight
81 kg
Born
Chilliwack, CAN
Draft
2023, round 1, #13 (BUF)

Career · 2023–24 to 2026–27

Games
214
Goals
34
Points
102
TOI per game
15:07
xGF% (5v5)
53.6%
Goals above expected
−15.7

Season by season

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

2023–24BUF71111930−314:319811.2%214.852.6%
2024–25BUF75101828−214:491208.3%416.453.6%
2025–26BUF65133043+2715:5311611.2%517.153.8%
2026–27BUF3011+119:3640.0%01.465.8%
Total1 team2143468102+2315:0733810.1%1149.753.6%

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)
00.20.40.60.8150100150200
12m14m16m18m20m50100150200Game

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

3rd line
  • Goals /600.6340th pct
  • Assists /601.2675th pct
  • ixG /600.9274th pct
  • Goals above expected−15.71st pct

Play-driving

1st line
  • xGF% (5v5)53.6%85th pct
  • CF% (5v5)54.2%90th pct
  • Relative xGF%+5.695th pct
  • Penalty diff /600.0647th pct

Usage

2nd line
  • TOI per game15:0763rd pct
  • PP time share30.3%60th pct
  • Offensive zone starts57.9%57th pct
  • Quality of competition24.7%64th 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. Luke EvangelistaNSH0.83
  2. Jackson BlakeCAR0.82
  3. Reilly SmithPIT/NYR/VGK0.81
  4. Artturi LehkonenCOL0.79
  5. Arseny GritsyukNJD0.75
  6. Braeden BowmanVGK0.73

Faceoffs

How often Benson 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

30.4%

17–39 · below the 624 draws of a regular

Against an average centre

30.4%

Opponents won 50.1% of their draws; an average centre would have won 49.9% against them.

Wins above average

−11

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

Draws per game

1.3

56 draws in all.

By dot, attacking to the right

40%5 · −8.730%20 · +3.936%14 · −0.80%1 · –33%3 · +3.90%3 · –25%4 · 0.033%6 · +1.3Attacking 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 zone32.4% 11–23
  • Neutral zone25.0% 4–12
  • Defensive zone33.3% 2–4

By strength

  • Even strength35.0% 14–26
  • Power play22.2% 2–7
  • Shorthanded14.3% 1–6

What a win leads to

Shot attempts in the next 20 seconds, for minus against, per 100 draws: +88 after a win, +13 after a loss. Each win was worth 1.1 expected goals per 100 draws more than a loss.

Most-faced opponents

Season by season

SeasonDrawsWin rateAgainst average
2023–241729.4%28.8%
2024–252119.0%20.8%
2025–261546.7%46.2%
2026–27333.3%27.8%

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.

−15.7 goals above expected

0102030405050100150200Game

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 speed33.9 km/h41st pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph447th pct
  • Hardest shot127.4 km/h61st pct
  • Distance skated16 km78th pct
  • Offensive-zone time50.6%97th 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

35.5 km/h30th pct

▲ +0.9 km/h since 2024–25

343536373823–2424–2525–262023–24: 34.5 km/h, 9th percentile (71 games)2024–25: 34.6 km/h, 8th percentile (75 games)2025–26: 35.5 km/h, 30th percentile (65 games)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

4.338th pct

▲ +1.5 since 2024–25

024681023–2424–2525–262023–24: 1.3, 5th percentile (71 games)2024–25: 2.8, 16th percentile (75 games)2025–26: 4.3, 38th percentile (65 games)

Distance skated per 60

15.9 km76th pct

▲ +0.5 km since 2024–25

14.51515.51616.523–2424–2525–262023–24: 15.3 km, 34th percentile (71 games)2024–25: 15.4 km, 36th percentile (75 games)2025–26: 15.9 km, 76th percentile (65 games)

Hardest shot

130.2 km/h12th pct

▼ −3.7 km/h since 2024–25

12513013514014515023–2424–2525–262023–24: 135.6 km/h, 21st percentile (71 games)2024–25: 134.0 km/h, 20th percentile (75 games)2025–26: 130.2 km/h, 12th percentile (65 games)

Offensive-zone time

43.1%67th pct

▼ −0.3 points since 2024–25

38%40%42%44%46%23–2424–2525–262023–24: 42.5%, 59th percentile (71 games)2024–25: 43.3%, 69th percentile (75 games)2025–26: 43.1%, 67th percentile (65 games)