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Vladimir Sobotka

#17 · Centre · Buffalo Sabres

Born Jul 2, 1987 in Trebic, CZE · 5'11", 191 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 106th overall in 2005 by BOS (round 4)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2019-20. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Nic Petan TOR · 3 P in 16 GP Rudolfs Balcers OTT · 3 P in 16 GP Julien Gauthier NYR · 3 P in 17 GP Jake Evans MTL · 3 P in 13 GP Mikhail Vorobyev PHI · 3 P in 20 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.

2019-20 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.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2019-20, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

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

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 2019-20 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.

2019-20 analytics

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. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. 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.

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 lines 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 lines 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. 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.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 410 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

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 this season, 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