Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Niko Mikkola

Niko Mikkola

#77 · Defence · Florida Panthers

Born Apr 27, 1996 in Kiiminki, FIN (age 30) · 6'6", 204 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 127th overall in 2015 by STL (round 5)

Trophy case

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.

Ryan Suter DAL · 17 P in 82 GP Ryan Lindgren NYR · 17 P in 76 GP Calen Addison SJS · 17 P in 72 GP Jackson LaCombe ANA · 17 P in 71 GP Juuso Välimäki ARI · 17 P in 68 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.

051015202019-20: 1 points119-202020-21: 3 points320-212021-22: 13 points1321-222022-23: 6 points622-232023-24: 17 points1723-242024-25: 22 points2224-252025-26: 11 points1125-262026-27: 0 points026-27

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2019-20 STL 5 0 1 1 3 0 10 5 0.20 $843K
2020-21 STL 30 1 2 3 -11 11 22 49 0.10 $788K
2021-22 STL 54 3 10 13 -6 55 58 109 0.24 $788K
2022-23 STL 50 0 3 3 2 35 31 96 0.06 $1.9M
2022-23 NYR 31 1 2 3 4 23 31 55 0.10
2023-24 FLA 82 3 14 17 11 69 93 198 0.21 $2.5M
2024-25 FLA 76 6 16 22 12 70 116 137 0.29 $2.5M
2025-26 FLA 68 3 8 11 -1 47 68 116 0.16 $2.5M
2026-27 FLA 5 0 0 0 -1 2 8 2 0.00 $5M
8 seasons Career 401 17 56 73 13 312 437 767 0.18

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2020-21 STL 4 0 1 1 0 2 3 6 0.25
2021-22 STL 12 0 1 1 0 8 7 36 0.08
2022-23 NYR 7 0 2 2 2 12 6 8 0.29
2023-24 FLA 24 2 2 4 4 22 23 61 0.17
2024-25 FLA 22 3 3 6 5 37 18 49 0.27
5 seasons Playoffs 69 5 9 14 11 81 57 160 0.20

2023-24 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
82 3 14 17 11 69 93 198 0.21 3.2 20:02

Contract

$2.5MCap hitends in 2026, then UFA
$147KCap dollars per point17 points in 82 games
-$403KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$2.9MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

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 Florida Panthers on Jul 1, 2023, as a new contract: 3 years and $7.5M, beginning in 2023-24. It runs through 2025-26, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2023-24 $2.5M $2.5M $500K $3M
2024-25 $2.5M $2.5M $0 $2.5M
2025-26 $2.5M $2M $0 $2M

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

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Oct 2, 2025 Florida Panthers Extension 2026-27 to 2033-34 8 $40M $5M
Jul 1, 2023 Florida Panthers New contract 2023-24 to 2025-26 3 $7.5M $2.5M
Jul 17, 2022 St. Louis Blues New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $1.9M $1.9M
Jan 30, 2020 St. Louis Blues Extension 2020-21 to 2021-22 2 $1.575M $788K
May 31, 2018 St. Louis Blues Entry-level 2018-19 to 2019-20 2 $1.85M $843K

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

-0.7Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-2.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-1.1Even-strength defence-0.7Power play+0.1Penalty kill+0.4Penalties-0.8

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.

-6-4-20242019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

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

48.7Corsi for %370 attempts for, 390 against
-7.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.0Expected goals for %15.0 expected for, 13.9 against
-2.3xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
51.7Goals for %15 for, 14 against
100.4PDO8.5% shooting + 91.9% saves
35Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 136 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Brandon Montour · Niko Mikkola24319:3849.152.910-11
Dmitry Kulikov · Niko Mikkola1624:4645.539.60-2
Oliver Ekman-Larsson · Niko Mikkola1612:5555.666.32-1
Gustav Forsling · Niko Mikkola127:3255.644.01-0

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.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.1Expected goalsfrom 30 unblocked attempts
+0.9Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.14 expected goals per 60 minutes38th
Shot quality 3.6% chance per attempt67th
Finishing +0.9 goals above expected79thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

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.

00.511.52Game 20Goals 2Expected 1.1

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

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 16, 2024 vs TOR W 5-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 18:03
Apr 13, 2024 vs BUF W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 21:12
Apr 11, 2024 vs CBJ W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 21:38
Apr 9, 2024 vs OTT W 2-0 0 1 1 1 5 1 4 19:40
Apr 6, 2024 @ BOS L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 22:26
Apr 4, 2024 @ OTT W 6-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 22:27
Apr 2, 2024 @ MTL L 3-5 0 0 0 -2 2 1 0 20:56
Apr 1, 2024 @ TOR L 4-6 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 17:50
Mar 30, 2024 vs DET W 3-2 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 23:24
Mar 28, 2024 vs NYI L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 18:47
Mar 26, 2024 vs BOS L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 4 0 3 18:03
Mar 24, 2024 @ PHI W 4-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 25:04
Mar 23, 2024 @ NYR L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:16
Mar 21, 2024 vs NSH L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 21:13
Mar 16, 2024 vs TBL L 3-5 0 0 0 -3 10 2 2 19:50
Mar 14, 2024 @ CAR L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 0 2 4 19:53
Mar 12, 2024 @ DAL W 4-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 20:37
Mar 9, 2024 vs CGY W 5-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 23:21
Mar 7, 2024 vs PHI L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 20:00
Mar 5, 2024 @ NJD W 5-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 18:32
Mar 4, 2024 @ NYR W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 20:55
Mar 2, 2024 @ DET W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 16:37
Feb 29, 2024 vs MTL W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 17:08
Feb 27, 2024 vs BUF W 3-2 0 0 0 1 2 1 3 19:04
Feb 24, 2024 vs WSH W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 18:01
Feb 22, 2024 @ CAR L 0-1 0 0 0 -1 0 4 1 19:24
Feb 20, 2024 vs OTT W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 19:13
Feb 17, 2024 @ TBL W 9-2 0 0 0 1 12 0 2 18:16
Feb 15, 2024 @ BUF W 4-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 19:32
Feb 14, 2024 @ PIT W 5-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 3 20:19
Feb 10, 2024 vs COL W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 20:20
Feb 8, 2024 vs WSH W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 19:23
Feb 6, 2024 vs PHI L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 18:05
Jan 27, 2024 @ NYI W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 17:53
Jan 26, 2024 @ PIT W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19:50
Jan 24, 2024 vs ARI W 6-2 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 23:08
Jan 22, 2024 @ NSH W 4-1 0 0 0 2 0 1 5 20:49
Jan 19, 2024 vs MIN L 4-6 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 16:26
Jan 17, 2024 vs DET L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 21:30
Jan 15, 2024 vs ANA L 4-5 (OT) 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 21:25
Jan 13, 2024 vs NJD L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 14:19
Jan 11, 2024 vs LAK W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 22:22
Jan 9, 2024 @ STL W 5-1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 21:08
Jan 6, 2024 @ COL W 8-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 18:47
Jan 4, 2024 @ VGK W 4-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 21:35
Jan 2, 2024 @ ARI W 4-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 16:33
Dec 30, 2023 vs MTL W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:56
Dec 29, 2023 vs NYR W 4-3 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 21:23
Dec 27, 2023 @ TBL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 21:12
Dec 23, 2023 vs VGK W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 20:18
Dec 21, 2023 vs STL L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 21:30
Dec 18, 2023 @ CGY L 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 18:23
Dec 16, 2023 @ EDM W 5-1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 22:07
Dec 14, 2023 @ VAN L 0-4 0 0 0 -2 0 2 4 17:51
Dec 12, 2023 @ SEA L 0-4 0 0 0 -3 0 0 2 19:45
Dec 10, 2023 @ CBJ W 5-2 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 21:42
Dec 8, 2023 vs PIT W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 21:00
Dec 6, 2023 vs DAL W 5-4 0 2 2 1 0 2 2 20:28
Dec 2, 2023 vs NYI L 3-4 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 17:14
Nov 30, 2023 @ MTL W 5-1 0 0 0 2 4 1 3 19:23
Nov 28, 2023 @ TOR L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 20:24
Nov 27, 2023 @ OTT W 5-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 18:54
Nov 24, 2023 vs WPG L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 22:27
Nov 22, 2023 vs BOS L 1-3 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 18:21
Nov 20, 2023 vs EDM W 5-3 2 0 2 2 0 3 2 20:11
Nov 17, 2023 @ ANA W 2-1 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 23:17
Nov 16, 2023 @ LAK L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 18:44
Nov 14, 2023 @ SJS W 5-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 24:36
Nov 12, 2023 vs CHI W 4-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 22:37
Nov 10, 2023 vs CAR W 5-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 22:45
Nov 8, 2023 @ WSH W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 21:53
Nov 6, 2023 vs CBJ W 5-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 20:52
Nov 4, 2023 @ CHI L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 3 19:09
Nov 2, 2023 @ DET W 2-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 17:30
Oct 30, 2023 @ BOS L 2-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 19:37
Oct 28, 2023 vs SEA W 3-2 0 1 1 1 0 7 2 22:13
Oct 24, 2023 vs SJS W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 20:26
Oct 21, 2023 vs VAN L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 19:53
Oct 19, 2023 vs TOR W 3-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 19:47
Oct 16, 2023 @ NJD W 4-3 1 0 1 1 4 3 2 19:43
Oct 14, 2023 @ WPG L 4-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15:13
Oct 12, 2023 @ MIN L 0-2 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 18:03