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Tyson Kozak

#48 · Centre · Buffalo Sabres

Born Dec 29, 2002 in Souris, Manitoba, CAN (age 23) · 5'11", 187 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 193rd overall in 2021 by BUF (round 7)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Alexey Toropchenko STL · 0 P in 1 GP Andre Burakovsky OTT · 0 P in 1 GP Andrew Mangiapane CHI · 0 P in 1 GP Brennan Othmann CGY · 0 P in 1 GP Ethen Frank WSH · 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.

02462024-25: 5 points524-252025-26: 6 points625-262026-27: 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
2024-25 BUF 21 3 2 5 -2 2 11 26 0.24 $850K
2025-26 BUF 46 2 4 6 -1 2 30 120 0.13 $775K
2026-27 BUF 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 0.00 $875K
3 seasons Career 68 5 6 11 -4 4 41 147 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
2025-26 BUF 6 0 1 1 2 0 6 12 0.17
1 season Playoffs 6 0 1 1 2 0 6 12 0.17

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 0.00 0.0 7:32

Contract

$875KCap hitends in 2028
$484KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$391KValueworth 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. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. 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 652 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Jul 1, 2025, as a new contract: 3 years and $2.525M, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2027-28, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $775K
2026-27 $875K
2027-28 $875K

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 2027-28 3 $2.525M $775K
Aug 19, 2022 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2022-23 to 2024-25 3 $2.55M $850K

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 2026-27 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.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 1 game (-0.1 goals above replacement), plus the 33 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

-0.3Goals above replacement530th of 652 skaters, 363rd of 424 forwards
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 424 ranked forwards: 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-2.5 12th percentileEven-strength defence+1.1 71st percentilePower play+0.1 69th percentilePenalty kill0.0 28th percentilePenalties+0.2 48th 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 forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-1.5-1-0.500.511.52024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

41.7Corsi for %5 attempts for, 7 against
-3.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
5.6Expected goals for %0.0 expected for, 0.5 against
-28.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
25.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
0.0Goals for %0 for, 1 against
50.0PDO0.0% shooting + 50.0% 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
Sam Carrick · Beck Malenstyn · Tyson Kozak15:5255.610.30-1
Beck Malenstyn · Tage Thompson · Tyson Kozak10:440.00.00-0

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.

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. "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 10, 2026 vs UTA L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 07:32