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Matthew Highmore

#15 · Centre · Free agent, last with the Ottawa Senators

Born Feb 27, 1996 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, CAN · 5'11", 192 lb · Shoots left

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2019-20. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Scott Sabourin OTT · 6 P in 35 GP Mitchell Stephens TBL · 6 P in 38 GP Par Lindholm BOS · 6 P in 40 GP Filip Chlapik OTT · 6 P in 31 GP Justin Dowling DAL · 6 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.

05102017-18: 2 points217-182019-20: 6 points619-202020-21: 7 points720-212021-22: 12 points1221-222022-23: 0 points022-232023-24: 2 points223-242024-25: 6 points624-25

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2017-18 CHI 13 2 0 2 -4 0 27 9 0.15 $776K
2019-20 CHI 36 2 4 6 -1 6 35 38 0.17 $776K
2020-21 CHI 24 0 2 2 -5 6 20 22 0.08 $725K
2020-21 VAN 18 3 2 5 0 2 20 21 0.28
2021-22 VAN 46 5 7 12 1 14 61 41 0.26 $725K
2022-23 STL 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 0.00 $750K
2023-24 OTT 7 0 2 2 0 0 1 3 0.29 $775K
2024-25 OTT 41 2 4 6 -5 10 33 50 0.15 $775K
7 seasons Career 187 14 21 35 -13 38 199 188 0.19

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2019-20 CHI 9 3 1 4 -1 2 8 14 0.44
2024-25 OTT 1 0 0 0 -1 4 1 3 0.00
2 seasons Playoffs 10 3 1 4 -2 6 9 17 0.40

2019-20 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
36 2 4 6 -1 6 35 38 0.17 5.7 9:49

Contract

$776KCap hitends in 2020, then extended to 2022
$129KCap dollars per point6 points in 36 games
$1.36MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.6 goals above replacement
$1.2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$375KValueworth 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 668 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Chicago Blackhawks on Mar 2, 2017, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.775M, beginning in 2017-18. It runs through 2019-20, so this is its last season, and his extension takes over. His next contract is already signed: an extension with the Chicago Blackhawks on Apr 2, 2020, 2 years and $1.45M at $725K a season, beginning in 2020-21.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2017-18 $776K $650K $93K $183K $743K
2018-19 $776K $675K $93K $158K $768K
2019-20 $776K $725K $93K $108K $818K

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
Jul 1, 2025 New York Islanders New contract 2025-26 to 2025-26 1 $775K $775K
Jun 27, 2024 Ottawa Senators Extension 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
Jul 1, 2023 Ottawa Senators New contract 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $775K $775K
Jul 14, 2022 St. Louis Blues New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $750K $750K
Apr 2, 2020 Chicago Blackhawks Extension not begun 2020-21 to 2021-22 2 $1.45M $725K
Mar 2, 2017 Chicago Blackhawks Entry-level 2017-18 to 2019-20 3 $2.775M $776K

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 2019-20 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.

2019-20 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+0.6Goals above replacement453rd of 670 skaters, 324th of 439 forwards
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 439 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-2.0 18th percentileEven-strength defence+0.7 65th percentilePower play-0.1 42nd percentilePenalty kill+0.1 71st percentilePenalties+0.9 73rd 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.

00.511.52017-182019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-25Goals 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

47.6Corsi for %267 attempts for, 294 against
-1.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
42.6Expected goals for %10.8 expected for, 14.5 against
-5.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
50.0Goals for %11 for, 11 against
102.0PDO8.0% shooting + 94.0% saves
60Attempts 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
Zack Smith · Matthew Highmore · David Kampf1488:0144.836.74-2
Ryan Carpenter · Matthew Highmore · David Kampf852:5155.449.01-1
Matthew Highmore · Alex Nylander · David Kampf949:3845.739.93-3
Zack Smith · Matthew Highmore · Alex Nylander323:5539.125.62-0

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
3.3Expected goalsfrom 44 unblocked attempts
-1.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.55 expected goals per 60 minutes16th
Shot quality 7.4% chance per attempt30th
Finishing -1.3 goals above expected38thOne 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.

0123Game 20Expected 3.3Goals 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
Mar 11, 2020 vs SJS W 6-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 11:29
Mar 8, 2020 vs STL L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 09:57
Mar 6, 2020 @ DET L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 07:13
Mar 5, 2020 vs EDM W 4-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 10:20
Mar 3, 2020 vs ANA W 6-2 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 09:56
Feb 29, 2020 @ FLA W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 12:22
Feb 27, 2020 @ TBL W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 09:58
Feb 25, 2020 @ STL L 5-6 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 09:46
Feb 23, 2020 @ DAL L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 09:03
Feb 21, 2020 vs NSH W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 08:31
Feb 19, 2020 vs NYR L 3-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10:04
Feb 16, 2020 @ WPG L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 09:56
Feb 15, 2020 @ CGY W 8-4 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 10:24
Feb 11, 2020 @ EDM L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 06:51
Feb 9, 2020 @ WPG L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 09:09
Jan 21, 2020 vs FLA L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 05:49
Jan 19, 2020 vs WPG W 5-2 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 10:00
Jan 18, 2020 @ TOR W 6-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 13:01
Jan 15, 2020 @ MTL W 4-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 11:48
Jan 14, 2020 @ OTT W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 07:57
Jan 11, 2020 vs ANA W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 4 4 12:29
Jan 9, 2020 vs NSH L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 07:59
Jan 5, 2020 vs DET W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 08:32
Jan 2, 2020 @ VAN L 5-7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 08:36
Dec 31, 2019 @ CGY W 5-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 11:53
Dec 29, 2019 @ CBJ W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 08:51
Dec 27, 2019 vs NYI W 5-2 1 0 1 1 2 4 0 09:50
Dec 23, 2019 vs NJD L 1-7 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 11:05
Dec 21, 2019 @ COL W 5-3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 09:18
Dec 19, 2019 @ WPG W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13:29
Dec 18, 2019 vs COL L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 09:23
Dec 15, 2019 vs MIN W 5-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 11:59
Dec 14, 2019 @ STL L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 09:30
Dec 12, 2019 @ ARI L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 08:19
Nov 29, 2019 vs COL L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 10:19
Nov 26, 2019 vs DAL W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 08:10