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Photo of Zachary Sanford

Zachary Sanford

#13 · Left wing · Chicago Blackhawks

Born Nov 9, 1994 in Salem, Massachusetts, USA · 6'4", 206 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 61st overall in 2013 by WSH (round 2)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2018-19

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2022-23. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Aatu Räty VAN · 3 P in 15 GP Grigori Denisenko FLA · 3 P in 18 GP Pavol Regenda ANA · 3 P in 14 GP Andreas Johnsson SJS · 3 P in 13 GP Aleksi Heponiemi FLA · 3 P in 10 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.

01020302016-17: 8 points816-172018-19: 20 points2018-192019-20: 30 points3019-202020-21: 16 points1620-212021-22: 21 points2121-222022-23: 3 points322-232023-24: 6 points623-24

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2016-17 WSH 26 2 1 3 0 6 23 18 0.12 $875K
2016-17 STL 13 2 3 5 2 4 13 4 0.38
2018-19 STL 60 8 12 20 8 21 77 48 0.33 $875K
2019-20 STL 58 16 14 30 13 28 90 109 0.52 $1.5M
2020-21 STL 52 10 6 16 -13 25 67 69 0.31 $1.5M
2021-22 OTT 62 9 8 17 -13 37 85 131 0.27 $2M
2021-22 WPG 18 0 4 4 -2 13 19 38 0.22
2022-23 NSH 16 2 1 3 -3 4 20 21 0.19 $850K
2023-24 ARI 11 0 2 2 3 4 9 7 0.18 $800K
2023-24 CHI 18 0 4 4 -3 2 15 17 0.22
7 seasons Career 334 49 55 104 -8 144 418 462 0.31

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2016-17 STL 4 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 0.00
2018-19 STL 8 1 3 4 4 0 8 18 0.50
2019-20 STL 6 1 1 2 -2 15 10 18 0.33
2020-21 STL 4 0 0 0 -1 0 3 7 0.00
4 seasons Playoffs 22 2 4 6 1 15 27 49 0.27

2022-23 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
16 2 1 3 -3 4 20 21 0.19 10.0 13:29

Contract

$850KCap hitends in 2023, then UFA
$283KCap dollars per point3 points in 16 games
$863KCap dollars per goal above replacement1.0 goals above replacement

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.

The contract

Signed by the Nashville Predators on Jul 15, 2022, as a new contract: 1 year and $850K, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2022-23, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2022-23 $850K $850K $0 $850K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
May 28, 2024 Chicago Blackhawks Extension 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
Jul 14, 2023 Arizona Coyotes New contract 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $800K $800K
Jul 15, 2022 Nashville Predators New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $850K $850K
Aug 4, 2021 St. Louis Blues New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $2M $2M
Jul 8, 2019 St. Louis Blues New contract 2019-20 to 2020-21 2 $3M $1.5M
Jul 11, 2016 Washington Capitals Entry-level 2016-17 to 2018-19 3 $2.775M $875K

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 2022-23 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.

2022-23 analytics

Rating

+1.0Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.7Even-strength defence+1.0Power play-0.4Penalty kill+0.1Penalties+0.3

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.

0123452016-172018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24Goals 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

44.4Corsi for %163 attempts for, 204 against
-1.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
47.4Expected goals for %7.1 expected for, 7.8 against
-1.3xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
46.4Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
41.7Goals for %5 for, 7 against
98.5PDO5.7% shooting + 92.9% saves
36Attempts 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
Zachary Sanford · Cody Glass · Philip Tomasino549:2638.849.11-1
Ryan Johansen · Nino Niederreiter · Zachary Sanford422:1755.355.40-0
Mark Jankowski · Zachary Sanford · Luke Evangelista219:3031.446.01-0
Zachary Sanford · Cody Glass · Cole Smith411:3455.657.50-0

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.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
2.7Expected goalsfrom 31 unblocked attempts
-0.7Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.75 expected goals per 60 minutes47th
Shot quality 8.7% chance per attempt69th
Finishing -0.7 goals above expected49thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 446 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

012Expected 2.7Goals 2

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 14, 2023 vs COL L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 15:44
Apr 13, 2023 vs MIN W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 15:54
Apr 10, 2023 @ CGY W 3-2 (SO) 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 15:51
Apr 8, 2023 @ WPG L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 18:03
Apr 6, 2023 vs CAR W 3-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 12:05
Mar 2, 2023 @ FLA W 2-1 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 13:26
Feb 28, 2023 vs PIT L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12:37
Feb 26, 2023 @ ARI W 6-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 15:35
Nov 21, 2022 vs ARI W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 2 1 0 12:44
Nov 8, 2022 @ SEA L 1-5 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 13:06
Nov 5, 2022 @ VAN W 4-3 (SO) 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 14:56
Nov 3, 2022 @ CGY W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 14:47
Oct 29, 2022 vs WSH L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 12:18
Oct 27, 2022 vs STL W 6-2 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 10:56
Oct 18, 2022 vs LAK L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 08:20
Oct 15, 2022 @ DAL L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 09:28