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Justin Kirkland

#23 · Centre · Minnesota Wild

Born Aug 2, 1996 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN (age 30) · 6'3", 183 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 62nd overall in 2014 by NSH (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2025-26. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Juho Lammikko NJD · 2 P in 24 GP Brian Halonen NJD · 2 P in 15 GP Logan O'Connor COL · 2 P in 13 GP Oscar Fisker Molgaard SEA · 2 P in 13 GP Sam Lafferty CHI · 2 P in 29 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.

024682022-23: 0 points022-232023-24: 0 points023-242024-25: 8 points824-252025-26: 2 points225-26

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2022-23 ANA 7 0 0 0 -3 0 5 8 0.00 $750K
2023-24 ARI 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0.00 $775K
2024-25 CGY 21 2 6 8 6 11 9 45 0.38 $775K
2025-26 CGY 20 1 1 2 1 2 11 29 0.10 $900K
4 seasons Career 50 3 7 10 4 13 26 87 0.20

2025-26 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
20 1 1 2 1 2 11 29 0.10 9.1 9:49

Contract

$900KCap hitends in 2026
$450KCap dollars per point2 points in 20 games
$3.28MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.3 goals above replacement
$1MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$108KValueworth 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 715 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2025-26, so this is its last season.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $900K

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
Jul 1, 2026 Minnesota Wild New contract (two-way) 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $850K $850K
2025-26 to 2025-26 $900K
Jul 3, 2024 Calgary Flames New contract (two-way) 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
Jul 15, 2023 Arizona Coyotes New contract 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $775K $775K
Jul 14, 2022 Anaheim Ducks New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $750K $750K
Aug 25, 2021 Calgary Flames New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $750K $750K
Sep 28, 2020 Calgary Flames Extension 2020-21 to 2020-21 1 $700K $700K
Jul 1, 2019 Calgary Flames New contract 2019-20 to 2019-20 1 $700K $700K
May 16, 2016 Nashville Predators Entry-level 2016-17 to 2018-19 3 $2.775M $718K

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 2025-26 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.

2025-26 analytics

Rating

+0.3Goals above replacement505th of 715 skaters, 353rd of 476 forwards
+0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.3Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 476 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-0.5 45th percentileEven-strength defence+0.3 53rd percentilePower play0.0 61st percentilePenalty kill+0.2 77th percentilePenalties-0.2 26th 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.

00.511.52022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals 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

49.8Corsi for %159 attempts for, 160 against
-1.8CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
48.4Expected goals for %6.2 expected for, 6.6 against
+0.9xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.7Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
54.5Goals for %6 for, 5 against
101.0PDO9.1% shooting + 91.9% saves
23Attempts 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
Justin Kirkland · Ryan Lomberg · Adam Klapka1488:3051.348.23-4
Justin Kirkland · Joel Farabee · Adam Klapka316:5637.841.91-0
Justin Kirkland · Ryan Lomberg · William Stromgren29:3844.442.20-0
Justin Kirkland · Ryan Lomberg · Yegor Sharangovich57:2537.513.30-0

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.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.7Expected goalsfrom 20 unblocked attempts
-0.7Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.51 expected goals per 60 minutes9th
Shot quality 8.3% chance per attempt52nd
Finishing -0.7 goals above expected54thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 444 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.5Game 20Expected 1.7Goals 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
Jan 29, 2026 @ MIN L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 10:35
Jan 25, 2026 vs ANA L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 12:02
Jan 21, 2026 vs PIT L 1-4 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 09:51
Jan 19, 2026 vs NJD L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 11:58
Jan 17, 2026 vs NYI W 4-2 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 10:45
Jan 15, 2026 @ CHI W 3-1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 09:03
Jan 13, 2026 @ CBJ L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 09:57
Jan 10, 2026 @ PIT W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 08:00
Jan 8, 2026 @ BOS L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 10:28
Jan 5, 2026 vs SEA L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 08:47
Dec 27, 2025 vs EDM W 3-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 08:53
Nov 1, 2025 @ NSH L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11:35
Oct 30, 2025 @ OTT L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 09:02
Oct 28, 2025 @ TOR L 3-4 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 08:38
Oct 26, 2025 vs NYR W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10:03
Oct 22, 2025 vs MTL L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 08:51
Oct 20, 2025 vs WPG L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 11:05
Oct 15, 2025 @ UTA L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 09:19
Oct 9, 2025 @ VAN L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 09:23
Oct 8, 2025 @ EDM W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 08:12