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Photo of Brayden Pachal

Brayden Pachal

#94 · Defence · Calgary Flames

Born Aug 23, 1999 in Estevan, Saskatchewan, CAN (age 27) · 6'2", 202 lb · Shoots right

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2022-23

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2022-23. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Kaedan Korczak VGK · 2 P in 10 GP Brandt Clarke LAK · 2 P in 9 GP Jack Rathbone VAN · 2 P in 11 GP Simon Edvinsson DET · 2 P in 9 GP Victor Mete TOR · 2 P in 11 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.

05102021-22: 0 points021-222022-23: 2 points222-232023-24: 7 points723-242024-25: 12 points1224-252025-26: 7 points725-26

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2021-22 VGK 2 0 0 0 -2 0 1 2 0.00 $765K
2022-23 VGK 10 0 2 2 2 8 18 27 0.20 $750K
2023-24 VGK 17 1 0 1 -2 12 18 49 0.06 $775K
2023-24 CGY 33 1 5 6 -1 39 34 81 0.18
2024-25 CGY 76 3 9 12 5 88 61 159 0.16 $775K
2025-26 CGY 39 1 6 7 -1 47 28 89 0.18 $1.188M
5 seasons Career 177 6 22 28 1 194 160 407 0.16

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2022-23 VGK 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.00
1 season Playoffs 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.00

2022-23 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
10 0 2 2 2 8 18 27 0.20 0.0 16:37

Contract

$750KCap hitends in 2023, then extended to 2025
$375KCap dollars per point2 points in 10 games

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 Vegas Golden Knights on Jul 28, 2022, as a new contract: 1 year and $750K, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2022-23, so this is its last season, and his extension takes over. His next contract is already signed: an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights on Jun 29, 2023, 2 years and $1.55M at $775K a season, beginning in 2023-24.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2022-23 $750K $750K $0 $750K

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
Dec 17, 2024 Calgary Flames Extension 2025-26 to 2026-27 2 $2.375M $1.188M
Jun 29, 2023 Vegas Golden Knights Extension not begun 2023-24 to 2024-25 2 $1.55M $775K
Jul 28, 2022 Vegas Golden Knights New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $750K $750K
Sep 20, 2019 Vegas Golden Knights Entry-level 2019-20 to 2021-22 3 $2.295M $765K

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 2022-23 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.

2022-23 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

-0.6Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.6Even-strength defence-0.1Power play0.0Penalty kill+0.2Penalties-0.6

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. 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.

-2-101232021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals 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

52.1Corsi for %146 attempts for, 134 against
+0.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.4Expected goals for %6.4 expected for, 5.8 against
-3.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.8Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
57.1Goals for %4 for, 3 against
100.9PDO5.1% shooting + 95.8% saves
37Attempts 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
Ben Hutton · Brayden Pachal673:4355.350.61-0
Brayden McNabb · Brayden Pachal1036:2857.364.51-1
Alec Martinez · Brayden Pachal328:5045.248.71-1
Nicolas Hague · Brayden Pachal68:0618.217.80-0

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. 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.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.5Expected goalsfrom 25 unblocked attempts
-0.5Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.19 expected goals per 60 minutes49th
Shot quality 2.1% chance per attempt4th
Finishing -0.5 goals above expected42ndOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 233 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.5Goals 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 11, 2023 vs SEA W 4-1 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 17:09
Jan 7, 2023 vs LAK L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 4 16:05
Jan 5, 2023 vs PIT W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 18:44
Jan 2, 2023 @ COL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 15:40
Dec 31, 2022 vs NSH W 5-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 20:47
Dec 28, 2022 @ ANA L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 15:48
Dec 27, 2022 @ LAK L 2-4 0 1 1 0 0 4 4 15:43
Dec 23, 2022 vs STL W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 14:44
Dec 15, 2022 @ CHI W 4-1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 17:25
Dec 13, 2022 @ WPG W 6-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 14:07