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Cole Smith

#22 · Right wing · Chicago Blackhawks

Born Oct 28, 1995 in Brainerd, Minnesota, USA (age 30) · 6'3", 195 lb · Shoots left

Compare with a similar player

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

A.J. Greer NJD · 0 P in 1 GP Brandon Pirri CHI · 0 P in 1 GP C.J. Smith BUF · 0 P in 1 GP Cameron Hughes BOS · 0 P in 1 GP Chase De Leo ANA · 0 P in 1 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.

051015202020-21: 0 points020-212021-22: 0 points021-222022-23: 17 points1722-232023-24: 23 points2323-242024-25: 12 points1224-252025-26: 12 points1225-262026-27: 1 points126-27

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2020-21 NSH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 $793K
2021-22 NSH 8 0 0 0 -3 0 3 21 0.00 $750K
2022-23 NSH 69 4 13 17 -3 60 64 198 0.25 $750K
2023-24 NSH 80 9 14 23 5 63 112 235 0.29 $775K
2024-25 NSH 71 4 8 12 -15 69 69 163 0.17 $1M
2025-26 NSH 42 6 4 10 -7 31 51 119 0.24 $1M
2025-26 VGK 21 2 0 2 0 9 18 54 0.10
2026-27 CHI 6 1 0 1 1 2 6 12 0.17 $3M
7 seasons Career 298 26 39 65 -22 234 324 802 0.22

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2023-24 NSH 5 0 0 0 -1 0 5 12 0.00
2025-26 VGK 22 3 3 6 3 24 14 100 0.27
2 seasons Playoffs 27 3 3 6 2 24 19 112 0.22

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 0.0 5:57

Contract

$793KCap hitends in 2021

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 Nashville Predators on Mar 19, 2020, as an entry-level contract: 1 year and $925K, beginning in 2020-21. It runs through 2020-21, so this is its last season.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2020-21 $793K $700K $93K $133K $793K

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 Chicago Blackhawks New contract 2026-27 to 2028-29 3 $9M $3M
Jan 24, 2024 Nashville Predators Extension 2024-25 to 2025-26 2 $2M $1M
Feb 6, 2023 Nashville Predators Extension 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $775K $775K
Jul 14, 2022 Nashville Predators New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $750K $750K
Jul 15, 2021 Nashville Predators Extension 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $750K $750K
Mar 19, 2020 Nashville Predators Entry-level 2020-21 to 2020-21 1 $925K $793K

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

-0.1Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence0.0Even-strength defence0.0Power play0.0Penalty kill0.0Penalties+0.0

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.

-3-2-10122020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

23.5Corsi for %4 attempts for, 13 against
-34.1CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
37.1Expected goals for %0.1 expected for, 0.2 against
-17.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
27.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
0.0Goals for %0 for, 0 against
100.0PDO0.0% shooting + 100.0% saves
1Attempts 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
Brad Richardson · Calle Jarnkrok · Cole Smith14:1127.349.30-0
Rocco Grimaldi · Colton Sissons · Cole Smith10:5220.08.90-0
Calle Jarnkrok · Colton Sissons · Cole Smith10:420.00.00-0

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. 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
0.1Expected goalsfrom 1 unblocked attempts
-0.1Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.87 expected goals per 60 minutes72nd
Shot quality 8.6% chance per attempt66th
Finishing -0.1 goals above expected48thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 411 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

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
Jan 14, 2021 vs CBJ W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 05:57