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Dennis Gilbert

#6 · Defence · Buffalo Sabres

Born Oct 30, 1996 in Buffalo, New York, USA (age 29) · 6'2", 216 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 91st overall in 2015 by CHI (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Nick DeSimone NJD · 7 P in 34 GP Wyatt Kaiser CHI · 7 P in 32 GP Nikita Zaitsev CHI · 7 P in 38 GP Matthew Kessel STL · 7 P in 39 GP Mattias Samuelsson BUF · 7 P in 41 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.

02462018-19: 0 points018-192019-20: 3 points319-202020-21: 0 points020-212022-23: 4 points422-232023-24: 7 points723-242024-25: 6 points624-252025-26: 1 points125-26

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2018-19 CHI 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 0.00 $925K
2019-20 CHI 21 1 2 3 -8 38 12 74 0.14 $925K
2020-21 COL 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 0.00 $925K
2022-23 CGY 23 1 3 4 0 27 13 55 0.17 $763K
2023-24 CGY 34 1 6 7 -7 16 23 59 0.21 $763K
2024-25 BUF 25 0 5 5 -3 50 5 52 0.20 $825K
2024-25 OTT 4 0 1 1 0 0 4 11 0.25
2025-26 OTT 8 0 1 1 0 2 2 10 0.13 $875K
7 seasons Career 119 3 18 21 -18 140 59 269 0.18

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2025-26 OTT 3 0 0 0 -1 6 0 11 0.00
1 season Playoffs 3 0 0 0 -1 6 0 11 0.00

2023-24 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
34 1 6 7 -7 16 23 59 0.21 4.3 12:17

Contract

$763KCap hitends in 2024, then UFA
$109KCap dollars per point7 points in 34 games
$1.061MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.7 goals above replacement
$1.3MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$532KValueworth 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 718 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Calgary Flames on Jul 13, 2022, as a new contract: 2 years and $1.525M, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2023-24, 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 $763K $750K $0 $750K
2023-24 $763K $775K $0 $775K

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, 2026 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $850K $850K
Jul 1, 2025 Philadelphia Flyers New contract 2025-26 to 2025-26 1 $875K $875K
Jul 1, 2024 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $825K $825K
Jul 13, 2022 Calgary Flames New contract 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $1.525M $763K
Aug 16, 2021 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $750K $750K
Apr 13, 2018 Chicago Blackhawks Entry-level 2018-19 to 2020-21 3 $2.775M $925K

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 2023-24 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.

2023-24 analytics

Rating

+0.7Goals above replacement456th of 721 skaters, 143rd of 252 defencemen
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.7Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 252 ranked defencemen: 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-1.7 38th percentileEven-strength defence+0.8 70th percentilePower play0.0 71st percentilePenalty kill+0.2 73rd percentilePenalties+0.0 80th 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 defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player.

-1-0.500.512018-192019-202020-212022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals 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

49.1Corsi for %372 attempts for, 386 against
-2.8CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.6Expected goals for %13.5 expected for, 16.1 against
-4.1xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
34.6Goals for %9 for, 17 against
95.7PDO5.3% shooting + 90.4% saves
53Attempts 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

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Dennis Gilbert · Nick DeSimone881:2852.240.92-3
Nikita Zadorov · Dennis Gilbert869:0951.745.50-3
Chris Tanev · Dennis Gilbert1363:0257.363.93-1
Jordan Oesterle · Dennis Gilbert1056:4744.636.50-3

The pairs 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 pairs 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
1.0Expected goalsfrom 38 unblocked attempts
0.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.14 expected goals per 60 minutes30th
Shot quality 2.6% chance per attempt27th
Finishing 0.0 goals above expected52ndOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 250 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.51Game 20Expected 1.0Goals 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
Apr 6, 2024 vs EDM L 2-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 08:53
Mar 7, 2024 @ TBL W 6-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 03:57
Mar 2, 2024 vs PIT W 4-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 09:13
Jan 27, 2024 vs CHI W 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 08:11
Jan 23, 2024 vs STL L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 10:09
Jan 20, 2024 vs EDM L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 09:49
Jan 4, 2024 @ NSH W 6-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 14:58
Jan 2, 2024 @ MIN W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12:18
Dec 31, 2023 vs PHI W 4-3 1 1 2 0 0 3 1 13:52
Dec 27, 2023 vs SEA L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 2 1 0 11:21
Dec 23, 2023 @ LAK L 3-5 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 13:13
Dec 21, 2023 @ ANA W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 12:53
Dec 18, 2023 vs FLA W 3-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 12:25
Dec 16, 2023 vs TBL W 4-2 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 11:52
Dec 14, 2023 @ MIN L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 13:11
Dec 12, 2023 @ VGK L 4-5 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 15:47
Dec 11, 2023 @ COL L 5-6 0 2 2 2 0 2 4 20:26
Dec 9, 2023 vs NJD L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12:47
Dec 7, 2023 vs CAR W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 10:16
Dec 2, 2023 vs VAN L 3-4 0 0 0 -2 0 0 2 11:31
Nov 30, 2023 vs DAL W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 11:42
Nov 27, 2023 vs VGK W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14:24
Nov 25, 2023 @ COL L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 12:03
Nov 24, 2023 @ DAL W 7-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 3 13:16
Nov 22, 2023 @ NSH L 2-4 0 0 0 0 5 1 4 12:25
Nov 1, 2023 vs DAL L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10:59
Oct 29, 2023 @ EDM L 2-5 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 12:09
Oct 26, 2023 vs STL L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 2 3 1 15:39
Oct 24, 2023 vs NYR L 1-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 17:01
Oct 22, 2023 @ DET L 2-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 3 12:57
Oct 20, 2023 @ CBJ L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 14:43
Oct 19, 2023 @ BUF W 4-3 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 11:50
Oct 16, 2023 @ WSH L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 10:53
Oct 14, 2023 @ PIT L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10:35