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Jacob Bryson

#78 · Defence · Detroit Red Wings

Born Nov 18, 1997 in London, Ontario, CAN (age 28) · 5'9", 177 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 99th overall in 2017 by BUF (round 4)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Anton Stralman FLA · 9 P in 38 GP Kris Russell EDM · 9 P in 35 GP Jakub Zboril BOS · 9 P in 42 GP Jacob MacDonald COL · 9 P in 33 GP Marcus Pettersson PIT · 9 P in 47 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.

02468102020-21: 9 points920-212021-22: 10 points1021-222022-23: 9 points922-232023-24: 8 points823-242024-25: 7 points724-252025-26: 8 points825-26

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2020-21 BUF 38 1 8 9 -1 12 24 32 0.24 $889K
2021-22 BUF 73 1 9 10 -9 12 43 55 0.14 $889K
2022-23 BUF 59 1 8 9 -24 8 27 34 0.15 $1.85M
2023-24 BUF 36 1 7 8 5 8 15 17 0.22 $1.85M
2024-25 BUF 48 0 7 7 -9 10 20 15 0.15 $900K
2025-26 BUF 35 2 3 5 -1 8 12 9 0.14 $900K
2025-26 WPG 15 0 3 3 -8 2 10 5 0.20
6 seasons Career 304 6 45 51 -47 60 151 167 0.17

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
38 1 8 9 -1 12 24 32 0.24 4.2 19:03

Contract

$889KCap hitends in 2022
$99KCap dollars per point9 points in 38 games
-$771KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$1.7MValueworth 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 633 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Apr 15, 2019, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.775M, beginning in 2019-20. It runs through 2021-22, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2019-20 $889K $725K $93K $108K $818K
2020-21 $889K $833K $93K $925K
2021-22 $889K $833K $93K $925K

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 Detroit Red Wings New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $850K $850K
Mar 20, 2025 Buffalo Sabres Extension 2025-26 to 2025-26 1 $900K $900K
Jul 1, 2024 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $900K $900K
Jul 10, 2022 Buffalo Sabres Extension 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $3.7M $1.85M
Apr 15, 2019 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2019-20 to 2021-22 3 $2.775M $889K

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 2020-21 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.

2020-21 analytics

Rating

-1.5Goals above replacement597th of 643 skaters, 190th of 213 defencemen
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-3.9Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 213 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 22nd percentileEven-strength defence-1.3 24th percentilePower play0.0 63rd percentilePenalty kill-0.6 9th percentilePenalties-0.3 58th 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.

-3-2-101232020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals 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

44.0Corsi for %472 attempts for, 601 against
-1.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
44.0Expected goals for %22.1 expected for, 28.1 against
-0.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
43.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
45.5Goals for %25 for, 30 against
102.0PDO9.9% shooting + 92.0% saves
61Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 579 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
Rasmus Ristolainen · Jacob Bryson28262:0542.542.69-11
Colin Miller · Jacob Bryson20117:1251.047.37-5
Brandon Montour · Jacob Bryson18107:1047.443.15-6
Will Borgen · Jacob Bryson677:4737.943.74-6

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
1.0Expected goalsfrom 42 unblocked attempts
0.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.09 expected goals per 60 minutes3rd
Shot quality 2.5% chance per attempt25th
Finishing 0.0 goals above expected56thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 218 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
May 8, 2021 @ PIT L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 18:35
May 6, 2021 @ PIT L 4-8 0 0 0 -2 0 0 2 15:40
May 4, 2021 vs NYI W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:30
May 3, 2021 vs NYI W 4-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 19:52
May 1, 2021 @ BOS L 2-6 0 1 1 -1 0 2 2 24:03
Apr 29, 2021 @ BOS L 2-5 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 18:14
Apr 27, 2021 @ NYR L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 15:14
Apr 25, 2021 @ NYR L 3-6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 14:54
Apr 23, 2021 vs BOS W 6-4 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 15:50
Apr 22, 2021 vs BOS L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20:41
Apr 20, 2021 vs BOS L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16:44
Apr 18, 2021 vs PIT W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 18:39
Apr 17, 2021 vs PIT L 2-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20:02
Apr 15, 2021 @ WSH W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 22:04
Apr 13, 2021 @ BOS L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 20:19
Apr 11, 2021 @ PHI W 5-3 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 19:00
Apr 9, 2021 vs WSH L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 19:02
Apr 8, 2021 vs NJD L 3-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 16:37
Apr 6, 2021 @ NJD W 5-3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 20:46
Apr 3, 2021 vs NYR W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 19:42
Apr 1, 2021 vs NYR L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 21:32
Mar 31, 2021 vs PHI W 6-1 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 22:31
Mar 27, 2021 @ BOS L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 18:22
Mar 25, 2021 @ PIT L 0-4 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 18:04
Mar 24, 2021 @ PIT L 2-5 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 15:24
Mar 22, 2021 @ NYR L 3-5 0 0 0 -2 2 1 1 20:46
Mar 18, 2021 vs BOS L 1-4 0 1 1 -1 0 0 0 16:19
Mar 15, 2021 vs WSH L 0-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 18:48
Mar 13, 2021 vs PIT L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 19:58
Mar 11, 2021 vs PIT L 2-5 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 20:40
Mar 9, 2021 @ PHI L 4-5 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 22:04
Mar 7, 2021 @ NYI L 2-5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 19:16
Mar 6, 2021 @ NYI L 2-5 1 0 1 0 0 2 1 20:48
Mar 4, 2021 @ NYI L 2-5 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 24:10
Mar 2, 2021 @ NYR L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 18:39
Feb 27, 2021 vs PHI L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 2 3 0 17:48
Feb 25, 2021 vs NJD L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17:08
Feb 23, 2021 @ NJD W 4-1 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 17:59