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Samuel Girard

#49 · Defence · Pittsburgh Penguins

Born May 12, 1998 in Roberval, Quebec, CAN (age 28) · 5'10", 184 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 47th overall in 2016 by NSH (round 2)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2021-22

Compare with a similar player

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

Declan Carlile PIT · 4 P in 4 GP Devon Toews COL · 4 P in 4 GP Erik Karlsson PIT · 4 P in 4 GP Jared Spurgeon MIN · 4 P in 4 GP John Carlson TBL · 4 P in 4 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.

01020302017-18: 23 points2317-182018-19: 27 points2718-192019-20: 34 points3419-202020-21: 32 points3220-212021-22: 28 points2821-222022-23: 37 points3722-232023-24: 18 points1823-242024-25: 24 points2424-252025-26: 19 points1925-262026-27: 4 points426-27

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2017-18 NSH 5 1 2 3 -3 2 8 3 0.60 $728K
2017-18 COL 68 3 17 20 -8 6 76 43 0.29
2018-19 COL 82 4 23 27 8 6 116 65 0.33 $728K
2019-20 COL 70 4 30 34 1 17 96 46 0.49 $728K
2020-21 COL 48 5 27 32 15 16 79 31 0.67 $5M
2021-22 COL 67 5 23 28 -4 20 79 65 0.42 $5M
2022-23 COL 76 6 31 37 -10 16 119 67 0.49 $5M
2023-24 COL 59 3 15 18 0 10 73 76 0.31 $5M
2024-25 COL 73 3 21 24 7 14 95 62 0.33 $5M
2025-26 COL 40 3 9 12 12 15 31 15 0.30 $5M
2025-26 PIT 20 0 7 7 5 8 10 6 0.35
2026-27 PIT 4 1 3 4 -1 0 7 3 1.00 $5M
10 seasons Career 612 38 208 246 22 130 789 482 0.40

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2017-18 COL 3 0 0 0 -3 0 6 2 0.00
2018-19 COL 9 0 2 2 3 0 6 8 0.22
2019-20 COL 12 1 7 8 4 4 16 12 0.67
2020-21 COL 10 0 5 5 -5 2 13 17 0.50
2021-22 COL 7 1 2 3 -1 0 14 6 0.43
2022-23 COL 7 0 2 2 -4 2 9 16 0.29
2023-24 COL 9 0 3 3 3 0 9 12 0.33
2024-25 COL 7 1 2 3 2 0 7 9 0.43
2025-26 PIT 6 0 0 0 -1 4 5 6 0.00
9 seasons Playoffs 70 3 23 26 -2 12 85 88 0.37

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 1 3 4 -1 0 7 3 1.00 14.3 19:36

Contract

$5MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$1.25MCap dollars per point4 points in 4 games
$703KCap dollars per goal above replacement7.1 goals above replacement, projected
$7.6MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$2.6MValueworth 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. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Colorado Avalanche on Jul 31, 2019, as an extension of the contract he was on: 7 years and $35M, beginning in 2020-21. It runs through 2026-27, 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
2020-21 $5M $5M $0 $5M
2021-22 $5M $5M $0 $5M
2022-23 $5M $5M $0 $5M
2023-24 $5M $5M $0 $5M
2024-25 $5M $5M $0 $5M M-NTC
2025-26 $5M $5M $0 $5M M-NTC
2026-27 $5M $5M $0 $5M M-NTC

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, 2019 Colorado Avalanche Extension 2020-21 to 2026-27 7 $35M $5M
Sep 29, 2016 Nashville Predators Entry-level 2017-18 to 2019-20 signed for 2016-17, slid 3 $2.775M $728K

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 (+1.6 goals above replacement), plus the 64 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.

+7.1Goals above replacement129th of 648 skaters, 35th of 225 defencemen
+1.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+2.7Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 225 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+1.2 80th percentileEven-strength defence+0.9 70th percentilePower play-0.5 21st percentilePenalty kill+0.4 85th percentilePenalties+0.7 93rd 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.

-2024682017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals 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

49.6Corsi for %67 attempts for, 68 against
-1.4CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
57.8Expected goals for %3.4 expected for, 2.5 against
+2.3xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
55.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
50.0Goals for %5 for, 5 against
95.3PDO13.2% shooting + 82.1% saves
14Attempts 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
Samuel Girard · Kaedan Korczak452:2950.062.55-4
Kris Letang · Samuel Girard46:4558.340.60-1
Erik Karlsson · Samuel Girard46:1627.326.20-0
Trevor van Riemsdyk · Samuel Girard10:310.00.00-0

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.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.8Expected goalsfrom 12 unblocked attempts
+0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.60 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 6.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +0.2 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

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

00.20.40.60.81Goals 1Expected 0.8

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 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 19:00
Oct 5, 2026 vs WPG L 2-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 17:12
Oct 3, 2026 vs MTL W 6-5 (OT) 1 0 1 -3 0 3 1 21:11
Sep 30, 2026 @ PHI W 7-0 0 2 2 3 0 2 1 21:02