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Photo of Niklas Backstrom

Niklas Backstrom

#32 · Goalie · Calgary Flames

Born Feb 13, 1978 in Helsinki, FIN · 6'2", 192 lb · Catches left

Trophy case

William M. Jennings Trophy Goaltender(s) on Team with Fewest Goals Against 2006-07

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2014-15. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Chad Johnson NYI · 19 GP, 0.889 Keith Kinkaid NJD · 19 GP, 0.915 Reto Berra COL · 19 GP, 0.918 Al Montoya FLA · 20 GP, 0.892 Thomas Greiss PIT · 20 GP, 0.908

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.

02040602006-07: 41 games4106-072007-08: 58 games5807-082008-09: 71 games7108-092009-10: 60 games6009-102010-11: 51 games5110-112011-12: 46 games4611-122012-13: 42 games4212-132013-14: 21 games2113-142014-15: 19 games1914-152015-16: 4 games415-16

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
2006-07 MIN 41 23865 1028 955 73 1.97 0.929
2007-08 MIN 58 331384 1629 1498 131 2.31 0.920 $3.1M
2008-09 MIN 71 372488 2059 1900 159 2.33 0.923 $3.1M
2009-10 MIN 60 262382 1632 1474 158 2.72 0.903 $6M
2010-11 MIN 51 222353 1566 1434 132 2.66 0.916 $6M
2011-12 MIN 46 191874 1299 1194 105 2.43 0.919 $6M
2012-13 MIN 42 241532 1072 974 98 2.48 0.909 $6M
2013-14 MIN 21 51120 546 491 55 3.02 0.899 $3.417M
2014-15 MIN 19 5730 452 401 51 3.05 0.887 $3.417M
2015-16 CGY 4 2200 109 96 13 3.35 0.881 $3.417M
10 seasons Career 413 1961445028 11392 10417 975 2.49 0.914

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 MIN 5 1400 145 134 11 2.22 0.924
2007-08 MIN 6 2400 170 153 17 2.82 0.900
2 seasons Playoffs 11 3800 315 287 28 2.55 0.911

2014-15 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
19 14 5730 452 401 51 3.05 0.887

Contract

$3.417MCap hitends in 2016, then UFA

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 2015-16, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2014-15 $3.417M
2015-16 $3.417M

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 2015-16 $3.417M
2009-10 to 2012-13 $6M
2007-08 to 2008-09 $3.1M

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 2014-15 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.

2014-15 analytics

Rating

-11.1Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-1.8Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-14.8Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

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. 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.

-15-10-50510152010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Goals 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

-14.8Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
36.2Expected goals againstfrom 626 unblocked attempts
51Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.887Save %0.920 expected from his shots
Goals saved -0.88 above expected per 60 minutes1st
Shot difficulty 5.8% chance per attempt faced16thA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 49 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

02040Game 10Allowed 51Expected 36.2

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
Jan 13, 2015 @ PIT L 2-7 L 35 29 6 0.829 50:48
Jan 11, 2015 @ CHI L 1-4 L 35 31 4 0.886 60:00
Jan 10, 2015 vs NSH L 1-3 L 27 24 3 0.889 59:55
Jan 8, 2015 vs CHI L 2-4 L 19 16 3 0.842 59:29
Jan 3, 2015 @ DAL L 1-7 14 11 3 0.786 31:04
Dec 20, 2014 vs NSH L 5-6 (OT) OTL 30 27 3 0.900 41:02
Dec 17, 2014 vs BOS L 2-3 (OT) OTL 25 22 3 0.880 61:30
Dec 16, 2014 @ CHI L 3-5 L 38 34 4 0.895 58:34
Dec 13, 2014 @ ARI W 4-3 (SO) W 30 27 3 0.900 65:00
Dec 9, 2014 vs NYI W 5-4 W 19 15 4 0.789 60:00
Dec 5, 2014 vs ANA L 4-5 3 3 0 1.000 10:38
Nov 29, 2014 vs STL L 2-3 (SO) OTL 26 24 2 0.923 64:55
Nov 26, 2014 vs LAK L 0-4 12 12 0 1.000 39:57
Nov 24, 2014 @ FLA W 4-1 W 30 29 1 0.967 59:34
Nov 16, 2014 vs WPG W 4-3 (OT) 22 19 3 0.864 50:34
Nov 13, 2014 vs BUF W 6-3 W 26 25 1 0.962 53:16
Nov 6, 2014 @ OTT L 0-3 L 17 14 3 0.824 59:42
Oct 28, 2014 @ BOS W 4-3 W 28 25 3 0.893 60:00
Oct 19, 2014 @ LAK L 1-2 L 16 14 2 0.875 58:55