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Aaron Palushaj

#37 · Right wing · Carolina Hurricanes

Born Sep 7, 1989 in Livonia, Michigan, USA · 6'0", 187 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 44th overall in 2007 by STL (round 2)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2011-12. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Andrew Gordon ANA · 5 P in 37 GP Darryl Boyce CBJ · 5 P in 37 GP Toby Petersen DAL · 5 P in 39 GP Blake Geoffrion MTL · 5 P in 35 GP Jay Beagle WSH · 5 P in 41 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.

024682010-11: 0 points010-112011-12: 5 points511-122012-13: 9 points912-132013-14: 0 points013-14

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2010-11 MTL 3 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 0.00
2011-12 MTL 38 1 4 5 1 8 37 28 0.13
2012-13 COL 25 2 7 9 -2 8 29 32 0.36 $600K
2013-14 CAR 2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 0.00 $600K
4 seasons Career 68 3 11 14 -1 18 71 66 0.21

2011-12 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
38 1 4 5 1 8 37 28 0.13 2.7 7:34

Contract

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2013-14 to 2013-14 $600K
2012-13 to 2012-13 $600K

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 2011-12 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.

2011-12 analytics

Rating

+2.1Goals above replacement351st of 680 skaters, 241st of 445 forwards
+0.3Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.3Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 445 ranked forwards: 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.

Even-strength offence-0.9 38th percentileEven-strength defence+1.0 71st percentilePower play+0.0 66th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 58th percentilePenalties+1.2 81st percentile

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, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player. 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.

-0.500.511.522.52010-112011-122012-132013-14Goals 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

55.7Corsi for %294 attempts for, 234 against
+8.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.3Expected goals for %9.5 expected for, 9.4 against
+3.9xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.8Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
53.3Goals for %8 for, 7 against
100.2PDO6.3% shooting + 93.9% saves
69Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

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

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Petteri Nokelainen · Brad Staubitz · Aaron Palushaj939:4557.643.21-0
Mathieu Darche · Petteri Nokelainen · Aaron Palushaj932:0756.463.20-1
Aaron Palushaj · Lars Eller · Louis Leblanc427:4451.034.70-0
Brad Staubitz · Aaron Palushaj · Gabriel Dumont322:2061.368.00-1

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.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
2.3Expected goalsfrom 51 unblocked attempts
-1.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.49 expected goals per 60 minutes17th
Shot quality 4.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -1.3 goals above expected39thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

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

00.511.52Game 20Expected 2.3Goals 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 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

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 7, 2012 vs TOR W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 09:27
Apr 5, 2012 @ CAR L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 07:18
Apr 4, 2012 vs TBL W 5-2 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 09:55
Mar 31, 2012 @ WSH L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 06:09
Mar 30, 2012 @ NYR L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 06:57
Mar 27, 2012 vs FLA L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 06:55
Mar 24, 2012 @ PHI L 1-4 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 09:16
Mar 23, 2012 vs OTT W 5-1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 08:02
Mar 21, 2012 @ BUF L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 08:18
Mar 17, 2012 vs NYI L 2-3 (SO) 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 03:36
Mar 16, 2012 @ OTT L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 04:10
Mar 14, 2012 vs OTT W 3-2 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 05:19
Mar 10, 2012 @ VAN W 4-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 07:53
Mar 8, 2012 @ EDM W 5-3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 14:40
Mar 1, 2012 vs MIN W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00:29
Feb 28, 2012 @ TBL L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 12:59
Feb 26, 2012 @ FLA L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 08:38
Feb 21, 2012 vs DAL L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 08:52
Feb 19, 2012 vs NJD L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 07:51
Feb 13, 2012 vs CAR L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 09:57
Feb 11, 2012 @ TOR W 5-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 11:04
Feb 5, 2012 vs WPG W 3-0 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 12:23
Feb 4, 2012 vs WSH L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 08:20
Dec 1, 2011 @ SJS L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 03:19
Nov 26, 2011 vs PIT L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 05:51
Nov 25, 2011 @ PHI L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 05:23
Nov 23, 2011 @ CAR W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 04:38
Nov 21, 2011 vs BOS L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 04:53
Nov 19, 2011 vs NYR W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 06:43
Nov 17, 2011 @ NYI L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 2 1 1 05:17
Nov 16, 2011 vs CAR W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 08:32
Nov 14, 2011 vs BUF L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 08:04
Nov 12, 2011 @ NSH W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 09:51
Nov 10, 2011 @ PHX W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 13:22
Oct 22, 2011 vs TOR L 4-5 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 03:38
Oct 18, 2011 vs BUF L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 06:04
Oct 15, 2011 vs COL L 5-6 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 05:57
Oct 13, 2011 vs CGY L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 07:31