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Photo of Nikolai Knyzhov

Nikolai Knyzhov

#71 · Defence · San Jose Sharks

Born Mar 20, 1998 in Kemerovo, RUS · 6'3", 222 lb · Shoots left

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Adam Ginning PHI · 1 P in 9 GP Tyler Kleven OTT · 1 P in 9 GP Daemon Hunt MIN · 1 P in 12 GP Nick Blankenburg CBJ · 1 P in 12 GP Maxime Lajoie TOR · 1 P in 7 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.

02468102019-20: 0 points019-202020-21: 10 points1020-212022-23: 1 points122-232023-24: 1 points123-24

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2019-20 SJS 3 0 0 0 -1 2 0 4 0.00 $797K
2020-21 SJS 56 2 8 10 -9 39 51 84 0.18 $797K
2022-23 SJS 12 1 0 1 -13 8 10 11 0.08 $850K
2023-24 SJS 10 0 1 1 -6 6 6 13 0.10 $1.25M
4 seasons Career 81 3 9 12 -29 55 67 112 0.15

2023-24 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
10 0 1 1 -6 6 6 13 0.10 0.0 17:39

Contract

$1.25MCap hitends in 2025
$1.25MCap dollars per point1 points in 10 games
$1.23MCap dollars per goal above replacement1.0 goals above replacement

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 contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2024-25, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit
2023-24 $1.25M
2024-25 $1.25M

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
2023-24 to 2024-25 $1.25M
2022-23 to 2022-23 $850K
2020-21 to 2020-21 $797K
2019-20 to 2021-22 $797K

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 2023-24 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.

2023-24 analytics

Rating

+1.0Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.5Even-strength defence+1.6Power play-0.1Penalty kill-0.4Penalties-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.

-4-3-2-1012019-202020-212022-232023-24Goals 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

43.6Corsi for %126 attempts for, 163 against
+5.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
42.7Expected goals for %4.6 expected for, 6.1 against
+13.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
20.0Goals for %2 for, 8 against
91.9PDO3.3% shooting + 88.6% saves
17Attempts 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
Jan Rutta · Nikolai Knyzhov1049:5237.934.10-1
Ty Emberson · Nikolai Knyzhov428:5745.550.60-2
Kyle Burroughs · Nikolai Knyzhov817:4557.974.50-0
Matt Benning · Nikolai Knyzhov513:2330.87.90-1

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.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.2Expected goalsfrom 9 unblocked attempts
-0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.07 expected goals per 60 minutes4th
Shot quality 2.3% chance per attempt18th
Finishing -0.2 goals above expected48thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 250 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.2Goals 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
Nov 22, 2023 @ SEA L 1-7 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 15:34
Nov 12, 2023 @ ANA L 1-4 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 14:28
Nov 4, 2023 vs PIT L 2-10 0 0 0 -1 2 1 3 17:00
Oct 27, 2023 @ CAR L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 18:12
Oct 26, 2023 @ TBL L 0-6 0 0 0 -2 0 2 1 15:05
Oct 24, 2023 @ FLA L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17:58
Oct 21, 2023 @ NSH L 1-5 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 19:50
Oct 19, 2023 vs BOS L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 21:45
Oct 17, 2023 vs CAR L 3-6 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 16:53
Oct 14, 2023 vs COL L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 19:40