Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Ben Smith

Ben Smith

#18 · Right wing · Toronto Maple Leafs

Born Jul 11, 1988 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA · 5'11", 203 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 169th overall in 2008 by CHI (round 6)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2012-13

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2012-13. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Colton Sceviour DAL · 1 P in 1 GP Jason Akeson PHI · 1 P in 1 GP Eric Selleck FLA · 1 P in 2 GP Joonas Rask NSH · 1 P in 2 GP Matt Anderson NJD · 1 P in 2 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.

010202010-11: 1 points110-112011-12: 2 points211-122012-13: 1 points112-132013-14: 26 points2613-142014-15: 14 points1414-152015-16: 6 points615-162016-17: 4 points416-17

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 CHI 6 1 0 1 1 0 6 7 0.17
2011-12 CHI 13 2 0 2 -5 0 18 6 0.15
2012-13 CHI 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 $563K
2013-14 CHI 75 14 12 26 3 2 90 40 0.35 $562K
2014-15 CHI 61 5 4 9 -1 2 77 49 0.15 $1.5M
2014-15 SJS 19 2 3 5 3 0 15 23 0.26
2015-16 SJS 6 0 0 0 -1 0 1 5 0.00 $1.5M
2015-16 TOR 16 2 4 6 3 0 16 13 0.38
2016-17 COL 4 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 0.00 $675K
2016-17 TOR 36 2 2 4 -5 4 29 28 0.11
7 seasons Career 237 29 25 54 -3 8 254 173 0.23

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2010-11 CHI 7 3 0 3 -1 0 6 11 0.43
2012-13 CHI 1 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 0.00
2013-14 CHI 19 4 2 6 5 2 27 21 0.32
3 seasons Playoffs 27 7 2 9 3 2 34 32 0.33

2012-13 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 100.0 18:21

Contract

$563KCap hitends in 2014, then RFA
$563KCap dollars per point1 points in 1 games

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 2013-14, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2012-13 $563K
2013-14 $563K

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
2016-17 to 2016-17 $675K
2015-16 to 2015-16 $1.5M
2014-15 to 2014-15 $1.5M
2013-14 to 2013-14 $562K
2012-13 to 2013-14 $563K

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 2012-13 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.

2012-13 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

-0.2Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.1Even-strength defence-0.2Power play0.0Penalty kill-0.1Penalties+0.0

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.

-2024682010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Goals 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

52.4Corsi for %11 attempts for, 10 against
+9.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
32.4Expected goals for %0.3 expected for, 0.7 against
-14.3xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
100.0Goals for %1 for, 0 against
114.3PDO14.3% shooting + 100.0% saves
2Attempts 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
Ben Smith · Brandon Pirri · Jeremy Morin19:5141.731.90-0
Jimmy Hayes · Ben Smith · Jeremy Morin10:58100.0100.01-0
Bryan Bickell · Ben Smith · Brandon Pirri10:570.00.00-0
Michael Frolik · Ben Smith · Brandon Pirri10:5650.015.60-0

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
0.0Expected goalsfrom 1 unblocked attempts
+1.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.04 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 1.1% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +1.0 goals above expected66thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 355 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

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 27, 2013 @ STL L 1-3 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 18:21