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Dean Kukan

#46 · Defence · Columbus Blue Jackets

Born Jul 8, 1993 in Volketswil, CHE · 6'2", 190 lb · Shoots left

Compare with a similar player

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

Riley Stillman FLA · 5 P in 34 GP Joakim Ryan LAK · 5 P in 35 GP Jarred Tinordi NSH · 5 P in 28 GP Libor Hajek NYR · 5 P in 28 GP Tim Heed SJS · 5 P in 38 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.

05102015-16: 0 points015-162017-18: 4 points417-182018-19: 5 points518-192019-20: 5 points519-202020-21: 5 points520-212021-22: 11 points1121-22

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2015-16 CBJ 8 0 0 0 9 0 3 7 0.00
2017-18 CBJ 11 0 4 4 2 2 12 2 0.36 $700K
2018-19 CBJ 25 0 5 5 6 6 16 16 0.20 $725K
2019-20 CBJ 33 1 4 5 -9 12 51 24 0.15 $725K
2020-21 CBJ 35 1 4 5 -3 10 29 36 0.14 $1.65M
2021-22 CBJ 41 3 8 11 -2 16 41 43 0.27 $1.65M
6 seasons Career 153 5 25 30 3 46 152 128 0.20

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2018-19 CBJ 10 1 0 1 -2 2 13 9 0.10
2019-20 CBJ 9 0 1 1 2 7 11 5 0.11
2 seasons Playoffs 19 1 1 2 0 9 24 14 0.11

2019-20 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
33 1 4 5 -9 12 51 24 0.15 2.0 15:58

Contract

$725KCap hitends in 2020, then RFA
$145KCap dollars per point5 points in 33 games
$1.427MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.5 goals above replacement
$1.1MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$374KValueworth 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

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2019-20, so this is its last season, after which he is a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2019-20 $725K

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
2021-22 to 2021-22 $1.65M
2020-21 to 2020-21 $1.65M
2018-19 to 2019-20 $725K
2017-18 to 2017-18 $700K

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

+0.5Goals above replacement457th of 670 skaters, 130th of 231 defencemen
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 231 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-1.4 46th percentileEven-strength defence+0.9 69th percentilePower play-0.1 32nd percentilePenalty kill0.0 46th percentilePenalties-0.6 42nd 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. 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.

-2-10122015-162017-182018-192019-202020-212021-22Goals 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

51.0Corsi for %418 attempts for, 401 against
+1.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.1Expected goals for %18.8 expected for, 16.0 against
+0.5xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.4Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
38.2Goals for %13 for, 21 against
95.8PDO5.4% shooting + 90.4% saves
76Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 583 skaters who played enough to be ranked: 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. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Dean Kukan · Vladislav Gavrikov17167:1755.163.46-6
Seth Jones · Dean Kukan25122:4552.749.13-7
Scott Harrington · Dean Kukan559:5747.354.50-1
Gabriel Carlsson · Dean Kukan430:0343.439.71-2

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. 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.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
2.0Expected goalsfrom 67 unblocked attempts
-1.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.23 expected goals per 60 minutes62nd
Shot quality 3.0% chance per attempt44th
Finishing -1.0 goals above expected29thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 229 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.5Game 20Expected 2.0Goals 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
Jan 2, 2020 @ BOS W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 13:50
Dec 31, 2019 vs FLA W 4-1 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 13:20
Dec 29, 2019 vs CHI L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 14:16
Dec 27, 2019 @ WSH L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 2 3 2 11:31
Dec 23, 2019 @ NYI W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14:11
Dec 21, 2019 vs NJD W 5-1 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 17:40
Dec 19, 2019 vs LAK W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 6 0 20:08
Dec 17, 2019 @ DET W 5-3 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 14:13
Dec 16, 2019 vs WSH W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:04
Dec 14, 2019 @ OTT L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 2 0 21:09
Dec 12, 2019 @ PIT L 0-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19:53
Dec 9, 2019 @ WSH W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:40
Dec 7, 2019 @ FLA L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 2 3 2 21:05
Dec 5, 2019 vs NYR L 2-3 0 1 1 -1 0 1 1 19:53
Dec 3, 2019 vs ARI L 2-4 1 0 1 0 0 2 2 22:54
Nov 30, 2019 @ NYI L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 22:14
Nov 29, 2019 vs PIT W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 14:54
Nov 27, 2019 vs PHI L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 13:59
Nov 25, 2019 vs OTT W 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 14:08
Nov 23, 2019 @ WPG L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 14:24
Nov 21, 2019 vs DET W 5-4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 12:04
Nov 19, 2019 vs MTL W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:26
Nov 15, 2019 vs STL W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 17:39
Nov 12, 2019 @ MTL L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 13:09
Nov 9, 2019 @ COL L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 2 2 1 14:11
Nov 7, 2019 @ ARI W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 11:38
Nov 5, 2019 vs VGK L 1-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 14:28
Nov 2, 2019 vs CGY L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14:52
Nov 1, 2019 @ STL L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 13:15
Oct 30, 2019 vs EDM L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 14:24
Oct 26, 2019 @ PHI L 4-7 0 1 1 1 2 2 1 13:12
Oct 19, 2019 vs NYI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 15:07
Oct 5, 2019 @ PIT L 2-7 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 15:16