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Kari Lehtonen

#32 · Goalie · Dallas Stars

Born Nov 16, 1983 in Helsinki, FIN · 6'4", 209 lb · Catches left · Drafted 2nd overall in 2002 by ATL (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2015-16. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Frederik Andersen ANA · 43 GP, 0.919 Brian Elliott STL · 42 GP, 0.930 Chad Johnson BUF · 45 GP, 0.920 Thomas Greiss NYI · 41 GP, 0.925 James Reimer SJS · 40 GP, 0.922

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.

02040602003-04: 4 games403-042005-06: 38 games3805-062006-07: 67 games6706-072007-08: 48 games4807-082008-09: 46 games4608-092009-10: 12 games1209-102010-11: 69 games6910-112011-12: 59 games5911-122012-13: 36 games3612-132013-14: 65 games6513-142014-15: 65 games6514-152015-16: 43 games4315-162016-17: 59 games5916-172017-18: 37 games3717-18

Games played by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save % Cap hit
2003-04 ATL 4 4001 106 101 5 1.25 0.953
2005-06 ATL 38 201502 1123 1017 106 2.94 0.906
2006-07 ATL 67 342484 2075 1892 183 2.79 0.912 $1.85M
2007-08 ATL 48 172254 1560 1429 131 2.90 0.916 $1.85M
2008-09 ATL 46 192233 1498 1364 134 3.06 0.911 $3M
2009-10 DAL 12 6400 350 319 31 2.81 0.911 $3M
2010-11 DAL 69 3424113 2043 1868 175 2.55 0.914 $3.55M
2011-12 DAL 59 322244 1739 1603 136 2.33 0.922 $3.55M
2012-13 DAL 36 151431 1050 962 88 2.66 0.916 $3.55M
2013-14 DAL 65 3320105 1888 1735 153 2.41 0.919 $5.9M
2014-15 DAL 65 3417105 1875 1694 181 2.94 0.903 $5.9M
2015-16 DAL 43 251022 1121 1016 105 2.76 0.906 $5.9M
2016-17 DAL 59 222573 1546 1395 151 2.85 0.902 $5.9M
2017-18 DAL 37 151431 946 863 83 2.56 0.912 $5.9M
14 seasons Career 648 3102336638 18920 17258 1662 2.71 0.912

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
2006-07 ATL 2 0200 73 62 11 5.59 0.849
2013-14 DAL 6 2401 165 146 19 3.30 0.885
2015-16 DAL 11 6301 257 231 26 2.81 0.899
3 seasons Playoffs 19 8902 495 439 56 3.30 0.887

2015-16 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
43 39 251022 1121 1016 105 2.76 0.906

Contract

$5.9MCap hitends in 2018, then UFA
$842KCap dollars per goal above replacement7.0 goals above replacement
$2.2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$3.7MValueworth 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. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 58 ranked goalies whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2017-18, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2015-16 $5.9M
2016-17 $5.9M
2017-18 $5.9M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2013-14 to 2017-18 $5.9M
2010-11 to 2012-13 $3.55M
2009-10 to 2009-10 $3M
2008-09 to 2008-09 $3M
2006-07 to 2007-08 $1.85M

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 2015-16 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.

2015-16 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+7.0Goals above replacement37th of 58 goalies
+1.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-3.4Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 58 ranked goalies: 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. Goals above average is coloured as it is under Shots faced below, where it is taken per 60 minutes.

The goals he saved for his team, compared with a spare-part goalie facing the same shots. A goalie's season is about one-third the goalie and two-thirds chance, so read one year lightly. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

010203040502010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

Shots faced

Expected goals adds up how likely each shot he faced was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. A goalie who lets in fewer than that has saved goals above expected. Only shots taken while he was in net count, and the league's goalies as a whole come out at zero. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones. What these numbers mean

-3.4Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
101.6Expected goals againstfrom 1,619 unblocked attempts
105Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.906Save %0.909 expected from his shots

Goals saved above expected, taken per 60 minutes, and save % are coloured by where they rank among the 57 goalies 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. The two goals against tiles are left plain, since they follow how much he played.

Goals saved -0.09 above expected per 60 minutes35th
Shot difficulty 6.3% chance per attempt faced61stA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 57 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

050100Game 10Game 20Game 30Game 40Allowed 105Expected 101.6

The goals he was expected to let in and the goals he did, as the season went on. When the allowed line runs below the expected line, he is saving more than his shots were worth.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced this season, with his net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Decision Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
Apr 7, 2016 vs COL W 4-2 W 19 17 2 0.895 59:53
Apr 2, 2016 @ LAK W 3-2 W 26 24 2 0.923 60:00
Mar 29, 2016 vs NSH W 5-2 W 30 28 2 0.933 60:00
Mar 24, 2016 @ ARI L 1-3 L 30 27 3 0.900 57:40
Mar 22, 2016 @ CHI W 6-2 W 32 30 2 0.938 60:00
Mar 19, 2016 vs NYI W 3-0 W, SO 27 27 0 1.000 60:00
Mar 17, 2016 vs TBL W 4-3 W 20 17 3 0.850 60:00
Mar 15, 2016 vs LAK L 2-5 L 11 7 4 0.636 21:07
Mar 11, 2016 vs CHI W 5-2 W 23 21 2 0.913 60:00
Mar 8, 2016 @ MTL L 3-4 (OT) OTL 28 24 4 0.857 61:20
Mar 6, 2016 @ OTT W 2-1 W 24 23 1 0.958 60:00
Mar 4, 2016 vs NJD W 4-2 W 20 18 2 0.900 60:00
Mar 1, 2016 @ NSH L 3-5 16 15 1 0.938 28:04
Feb 27, 2016 vs NYR L 2-3 L 29 26 3 0.897 58:48
Feb 25, 2016 vs WPG L 3-6 L 20 17 3 0.850 39:53
Feb 20, 2016 vs BOS L 3-7 L 41 35 6 0.854 59:45
Feb 16, 2016 @ STL L 1-2 (OT) OTL 22 20 2 0.909 61:11
Feb 13, 2016 vs WSH W 4-3 W 23 20 3 0.870 60:00
Feb 11, 2016 @ CHI W 4-2 W 46 44 2 0.957 60:00
Feb 9, 2016 @ MIN W 4-3 (OT) W 40 37 3 0.925 62:34
Feb 6, 2016 vs CHI L 1-5 15 13 2 0.867 40:00
Jan 19, 2016 @ LAK L 2-3 L 29 26 3 0.897 57:41
Jan 15, 2016 @ ANA L 2-4 L 35 31 4 0.886 57:58
Jan 7, 2016 vs WPG W 2-1 (SO) W 33 32 1 0.970 64:49
Jan 3, 2016 @ NYI L 5-6 L 44 38 6 0.864 57:45
Dec 29, 2015 @ CBJ L 3-6 14 11 3 0.786 20:00
Dec 27, 2015 vs STL W 3-0 W, SO 22 22 0 1.000 60:00
Dec 21, 2015 @ MIN W 6-3 4 2 2 0.500 08:16
Dec 17, 2015 vs CGY L 1-3 L 27 24 3 0.889 57:19
Dec 15, 2015 vs CBJ W 5-1 W 35 34 1 0.971 60:00
Dec 8, 2015 vs CAR W 6-5 30 25 5 0.833 53:09
Dec 3, 2015 @ VAN W 4-2 W 16 14 2 0.875 59:56
Nov 24, 2015 vs OTT L 4-7 3 2 1 0.667 08:32
Nov 19, 2015 @ WSH W 3-2 W 35 33 2 0.943 60:00
Nov 14, 2015 vs MIN W 3-2 (OT) W 24 22 2 0.917 63:17
Nov 12, 2015 vs WPG W 6-3 W 38 35 3 0.921 59:58
Nov 8, 2015 @ DET W 4-1 W 22 21 1 0.955 60:00
Nov 6, 2015 @ CAR W 4-1 W 31 30 1 0.968 60:00
Nov 3, 2015 @ BOS W 5-3 W 39 36 3 0.923 60:00
Oct 24, 2015 vs FLA L 2-6 L 11 8 3 0.727 21:00
Oct 17, 2015 @ FLA W 4-2 W 26 24 2 0.923 60:00
Oct 15, 2015 @ TBL W 5-3 W 33 30 3 0.909 60:00
Oct 13, 2015 vs EDM W 4-2 W 28 26 2 0.929 59:16