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Tommy Novak

#18 · Centre · Pittsburgh Penguins

Born Apr 28, 1997 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA (age 29) · 6'1", 188 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 85th overall in 2015 by NSH (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Auston Matthews TOR · 5 P in 4 GP Jared McCann SEA · 5 P in 4 GP Tomas Hertl VGK · 5 P in 4 GP Victor Olofsson VGK · 5 P in 4 GP Alexis Lafrenière NYR · 5 P in 5 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.

0102030402021-22: 7 points721-222022-23: 43 points4322-232023-24: 45 points4523-242024-25: 22 points2224-252025-26: 42 points4225-262026-27: 5 points526-27

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2021-22 NSH 27 1 6 7 -4 2 25 4 0.26 $818K
2022-23 NSH 51 17 26 43 5 8 93 9 0.84 $750K
2023-24 NSH 71 18 27 45 -3 8 113 5 0.63 $800K
2024-25 NSH 52 13 9 22 -5 4 88 6 0.42 $3.5M
2024-25 PIT 2 0 0 0 -2 0 4 0 0.00
2025-26 PIT 82 16 26 42 1 24 130 12 0.51 $3.5M
2026-27 PIT 4 3 2 5 2 0 8 1 1.25 $3.5M
6 seasons Career 289 68 96 164 -6 46 461 37 0.57

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2023-24 NSH 6 0 0 0 -1 0 5 4 0.00
2025-26 PIT 6 0 2 2 -4 0 7 6 0.33
2 seasons Playoffs 12 0 2 2 -5 0 12 10 0.17

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 3 2 5 2 0 8 1 1.25 37.5 15:19

Contract

$3.5MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$700KCap dollars per point5 points in 4 games
$505KCap dollars per goal above replacement6.9 goals above replacement, projected
$7.4MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$3.9MValueworth less cap hit

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 season is still being played, so each rating is projected over all of it: what the player has done so far, plus the games left at a rate taken from his last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 647 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Nashville Predators on Mar 4, 2024, as an extension of the contract he was on: 3 years and $10.5M, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2026-27, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent. His next contract is already signed: an extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jul 31, 2026, 3 years and $13.95M at $4.65M a season, beginning in 2027-28.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2024-25 $3.5M $3.5M $0 $3.5M
2025-26 $3.5M $3.5M $0 $3.5M
2026-27 $3.5M $3.5M $0 $3.5M

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 31, 2026 Pittsburgh Penguins Extension not begun 2027-28 to 2029-30 3 $13.95M $4.65M
Mar 4, 2024 Nashville Predators Extension 2024-25 to 2026-27 3 $10.5M $3.5M
Feb 8, 2023 Nashville Predators Extension 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $800K $800K
Jul 18, 2022 Nashville Predators New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $750K $750K
Mar 25, 2020 Nashville Predators Entry-level 2020-21 to 2021-22 2 $1.85M $818K

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 2026-27 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.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (-0.1 goals above replacement), plus the 70 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+6.9Goals above replacement129th of 647 skaters, 94th of 422 forwards
+1.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+4.0Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 422 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+2.7 75th percentileEven-strength defence+1.4 77th percentilePower play-0.2 34th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 49th percentilePenalties+0.2 43rd 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.

0510152021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

48.8Corsi for %41 attempts for, 43 against
-2.2CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.2Expected goals for %1.5 expected for, 1.8 against
-13.8xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
48.4Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
66.7Goals for %2 for, 1 against
107.0PDO11.8% shooting + 95.2% saves
5Attempts 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
Evgeni Malkin · Tommy Novak · Egor Chinakhov440:0550.648.02-1
Tommy Novak · Connor Dewar · Elmer Soderblom10:590.00.00-0
Evgeni Malkin · Tommy Novak · Connor Dewar20:450.00.00-0
Rickard Rakell · Tommy Novak · Hendrix Lapierre10:290.00.00-0

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.

3Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.4Expected goalsfrom 10 unblocked attempts
+1.6Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.34 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 13.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +1.6 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

0123Goals 3Expected 1.4

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
Oct 7, 2026 @ WSH L 3-5 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 15:17
Oct 5, 2026 vs WPG L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 15:12
Oct 3, 2026 vs MTL W 6-5 (OT) 2 1 3 2 0 3 0 14:42
Sep 30, 2026 @ PHI W 7-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 16:04