Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Luke Witkowski

Luke Witkowski

#20 · Defence · Detroit Red Wings

Born Apr 14, 1990 in Holland, Michigan, USA · 6'2", 210 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 160th overall in 2008 by TBL (round 6)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2017-18. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Mirco Mueller NJD · 4 P in 28 GP Taylor Chorney CBJ · 4 P in 25 GP Adam McQuaid BOS · 4 P in 38 GP Ian McCoshen FLA · 4 P in 38 GP Marcus Pettersson ANA · 4 P in 22 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.

012342014-15: 0 points014-152015-16: 0 points015-162016-17: 4 points416-172017-18: 4 points417-182018-19: 2 points218-192019-20: 3 points319-202021-22: 0 points021-22

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2014-15 TBL 16 0 0 0 0 15 10 37 0.00
2015-16 TBL 4 0 0 0 0 4 1 8 0.00 $575K
2016-17 TBL 34 0 4 4 -1 39 24 81 0.12 $575K
2017-18 DET 31 1 3 4 -1 68 16 57 0.13 $750K
2018-19 DET 34 0 2 2 -5 23 14 67 0.06 $750K
2019-20 TBL 12 1 2 3 -4 13 10 38 0.25 $700K
2021-22 DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 $750K
7 seasons Career 132 2 11 13 -11 162 75 289 0.10

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2015-16 TBL 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.00
1 season Playoffs 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.00

2017-18 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
31 1 3 4 -1 68 16 57 0.13 6.3 6:53

Contract

$750KCap hit2017-18
$188KCap dollars per point4 points in 31 games
$6.733MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.1 goals above replacement
$683KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$67KValueworth 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 691 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. When it ends is not known.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2021-22 to 2022-23 $750K
2019-20 to 2020-21 $700K
2017-18 to 2018-19 $750K
2016-17 to 2016-17 $575K
2015-16 to 2015-16 $575K

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 2017-18 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.

2017-18 analytics

Rating

+0.1Goals above replacement512th of 691 skaters, 165th of 240 defencemen
+0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.6Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 240 ranked defencemen: 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+0.2 67th percentileEven-strength defence+0.2 51st percentilePower play0.0 75th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 55th percentilePenalties-1.0 34th 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 defencemen. 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.

-1-0.500.512014-152015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202021-22Goals 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

42.2Corsi for %155 attempts for, 212 against
-7.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
46.5Expected goals for %6.6 expected for, 7.6 against
-3.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
43.8Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
46.2Goals for %6 for, 7 against
100.4PDO6.9% shooting + 93.5% saves
28Attempts 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

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Darren Helm · Luke Witkowski · Luke Glendening414:5940.067.21-1
Luke Witkowski · Riley Sheahan · Luke Glendening414:0046.444.30-0
Luke Witkowski · Luke Glendening · Martin Frk411:1740.951.21-0
Luke Witkowski · Scott Wilson · Luke Glendening210:1650.061.60-0

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. 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
1.5Expected goalsfrom 23 unblocked attempts
-0.5Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.43 expected goals per 60 minutes99th
Shot quality 6.6% chance per attempt99th
Finishing -0.5 goals above expected39thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 242 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.5Game 20Expected 1.5Goals 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 5, 2018 vs MTL L 3-4 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 08:29
Mar 24, 2018 @ TOR L 3-4 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 13:33
Mar 16, 2018 @ ANA L 2-4 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 04:50
Mar 12, 2018 @ SJS L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 06:14
Mar 9, 2018 @ CBJ L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 09:16
Mar 8, 2018 vs VGK L 0-4 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 08:58
Mar 6, 2018 @ BOS L 5-6 (OT) 0 0 0 0 4 1 4 03:42
Mar 4, 2018 @ MIN L 1-4 0 0 0 0 5 0 3 05:25
Mar 2, 2018 @ WPG L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 02:02
Feb 20, 2018 vs NSH L 2-3 0 0 0 -2 0 2 5 12:46
Feb 18, 2018 vs TOR L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 06:08
Feb 17, 2018 @ NSH W 3-1 1 0 1 1 2 2 2 13:57
Jan 25, 2018 vs CHI L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 11:19
Jan 23, 2018 vs PHI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 03:57
Jan 22, 2018 @ NJD W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 06:58
Jan 20, 2018 vs CAR L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 08:30
Jan 16, 2018 vs DAL L 2-4 0 0 0 -1 9 0 0 03:27
Jan 14, 2018 @ CHI W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 07:14
Jan 13, 2018 @ PIT L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 05:56
Dec 19, 2017 @ NYI W 6-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 03:23
Dec 15, 2017 vs TOR W 3-1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 04:59
Dec 13, 2017 vs BOS L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 05:18
Dec 11, 2017 vs FLA L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 10 0 4 04:28
Nov 15, 2017 vs CGY W 8-2 0 0 0 1 27 0 1 12:45
Nov 11, 2017 vs CBJ L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 08:22
Oct 24, 2017 @ BUF L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 02:54
Oct 22, 2017 vs VAN L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 09:20
Oct 18, 2017 @ TOR L 3-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 07:05
Oct 16, 2017 vs TBL L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 03:22
Oct 10, 2017 @ DAL L 2-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 04:16
Oct 7, 2017 @ OTT W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 04:36