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Erik Cernak

#81 · Defence · Tampa Bay Lightning

Born May 28, 1997 in Kosice, SVK (age 29) · 6'4", 232 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 43rd overall in 2015 by LAK (round 2)

Trophy case

×2 Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2020-21, 2019-20

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brett Pesce CAR · 13 P in 70 GP Nick Seeler PHI · 13 P in 71 GP Jake Bean CBJ · 13 P in 72 GP Johnathan Kovacevic MTL · 13 P in 62 GP Dante Fabbro NSH · 13 P in 56 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

2023-24 season totals

Contract

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 718 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jul 13, 2022, as an extension of the contract he was on: 8 years and $41.6M, beginning in 2023-24. It runs through 2030-31, with 7 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2023-24 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2023-24 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on.

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 48 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took in these playoffs, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log