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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 2024-25. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brendan Smith DAL · 6 P in 32 GP Ethan Del Mastro CHI · 6 P in 24 GP Nick DeSimone UTA · 6 P in 20 GP Artyom Levshunov CHI · 6 P in 18 GP Jack Johnson CBJ · 6 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

2024-25 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
29 0 6 6 -3 50 9 63 0.21 0.0 10:29

Contract

$825KCap hitends in 2025, then UFA
$138KCap dollars per point6 points in 29 games
$174KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$651KValueworth 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. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 698 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Jul 1, 2024, as a new contract: 1 year and $825K, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2024-25, 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
2024-25 $825K $825K $0 $825K

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 2024-25 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.

2024-25 analytics

Rating

-0.8Goals above replacement585th of 698 skaters, 195th of 242 defencemen
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 242 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-1.3 44th percentileEven-strength defence0.0 50th percentilePower play0.0 81st percentilePenalty kill+0.0 49th percentilePenalties-0.5 52nd 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

46.8Corsi for %260 attempts for, 295 against
-6.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
42.0Expected goals for %9.4 expected for, 13.0 against
-8.9xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
45.2Goals for %14 for, 17 against
100.9PDO13.5% shooting + 87.4% saves
27Attempts 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 pairTeamGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Connor Clifton · Dennis GilbertBUF20128:3844.136.44-6
Dennis Gilbert · Henri JokiharjuBUF829:4351.039.72-1
Dennis Gilbert · Owen PowerBUF1821:3636.129.30-0
Dennis Gilbert · Tyler KlevenOTT217:3050.040.10-0

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.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.3Expected goalsfrom 17 unblocked attempts
-0.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.06 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 1.9% chance per attempt4th
Finishing -0.3 goals above expected44thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 244 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Game 20Expected 0.3Goals 0

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 17, 2025 vs CAR W 7-5 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 13:02
Apr 15, 2025 vs CHI L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 14:06
Apr 13, 2025 vs PHI W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 18:39
Mar 8, 2025 vs NYR W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 06:19
Mar 3, 2025 @ MTL L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 11:40
Mar 1, 2025 vs MTL L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 07:20
Feb 27, 2025 @ CAR L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 12:14
Feb 25, 2025 vs ANA W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11:31
Feb 22, 2025 vs NYR W 8-2 0 1 1 2 0 0 3 16:52
Feb 8, 2025 @ NSH L 4-6 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 08:28
Feb 4, 2025 vs CBJ W 3-2 0 1 1 1 5 0 1 08:41
Feb 2, 2025 vs NJD W 4-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 06:36
Jan 23, 2025 @ CGY L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 07:18
Jan 21, 2025 @ VAN W 3-2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 07:48
Jan 11, 2025 vs SEA L 2-6 0 0 0 -1 7 0 1 05:40
Jan 9, 2025 @ OTT W 4-0 0 0 0 0 9 0 2 09:58
Jan 4, 2025 @ VGK L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 08:38
Dec 20, 2024 vs TOR L 3-6 0 0 0 -2 0 1 3 08:07
Dec 17, 2024 @ MTL L 1-6 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 11:55
Dec 15, 2024 @ TOR L 3-5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 10:47
Dec 14, 2024 @ WSH L 2-4 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 11:37
Dec 7, 2024 vs UTA L 2-5 0 1 1 -1 0 0 7 14:13
Dec 5, 2024 vs WPG L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 15 0 0 07:21
Nov 16, 2024 @ PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12:36
Nov 14, 2024 vs STL W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11:24
Nov 9, 2024 vs CGY W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 6 0 2 10:19
Nov 7, 2024 @ NYR W 6-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 13:27
Nov 5, 2024 vs OTT W 5-1 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 12:26
Oct 12, 2024 vs FLA W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 04:49