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Photo of Justin Danforth

Justin Danforth

#15 · Right wing · Buffalo Sabres

Born Mar 15, 1993 in Oshawa, Ontario, CAN (age 33) · 5'8", 193 lb · Shoots right

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2025-26. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Jacob Gaucher PHI · 0 P in 4 GP Jason Polin COL · 0 P in 4 GP Jett Luchanko PHI · 0 P in 4 GP Matěj Blümel BOS · 0 P in 4 GP Rory Kerins CGY · 0 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.

010202021-22: 14 points1421-222022-23: 3 points322-232023-24: 26 points2623-242024-25: 21 points2124-252025-26: 0 points025-262026-27: 0 points026-27

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 CBJ 45 10 4 14 -5 10 72 85 0.31 $750K
2022-23 CBJ 6 2 1 3 -3 4 10 7 0.50 $975K
2023-24 CBJ 71 10 16 26 -10 26 86 109 0.37 $975K
2024-25 CBJ 61 9 12 21 -6 18 94 126 0.34 $1.1M
2025-26 BUF 4 0 0 0 -2 2 2 3 0.00 $1.8M
2026-27 BUF 3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 0.00 $1.8M
6 seasons Career 190 31 33 64 -27 60 265 332 0.34

2025-26 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 0 0 -2 2 2 3 0.00 0.0 11:42

Contract

$1.8MCap hitends in 2027

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.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Jul 1, 2025, as a new contract: 2 years and $3.6M, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2026-27, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $1.8M
2026-27 $1.8M

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
Jul 1, 2025 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2025-26 to 2026-27 2 $3.6M $1.8M
Oct 11, 2023 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $1.1M $1.1M
Mar 8, 2022 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $1.95M $975K
May 3, 2021 Columbus Blue Jackets New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $750K $750K

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 2025-26 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.

2025-26 analytics

Rating

-0.6Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.5Even-strength defence0.0Power play0.0Penalty kill0.0Penalties-0.2

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. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked.

-202462021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

39.7Corsi for %25 attempts for, 38 against
-11.4CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
21.0Expected goals for %0.4 expected for, 1.7 against
-25.1xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
32.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
0.0Goals for %0 for, 2 against
89.5PDO0.0% shooting + 89.5% saves
6Attempts 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
Justin Danforth · Jack Quinn · Jiri Kulich210:1929.219.90-1
Justin Danforth · Peyton Krebs · Josh Doan14:4571.484.80-0
Beck Malenstyn · Justin Danforth · Tyson Kozak33:2325.071.10-0
Beck Malenstyn · Justin Danforth · Peyton Krebs22:5742.90.30-1

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.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.1Expected goalsfrom 3 unblocked attempts
-0.1Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.16 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 4.0% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.1 goals above expected59thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 444 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.1Goals 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
Oct 15, 2025 vs OTT W 8-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 06:14
Oct 13, 2025 vs COL L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:35
Oct 11, 2025 @ BOS L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 13:27
Oct 9, 2025 vs NYR L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 2 2 0 09:33