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Lian Bichsel

#6 · Defence · Dallas Stars

Born May 18, 2004 in Olten, CHE (age 22) · 6'7", 237 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 18th overall in 2022 by DAL (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2025-26. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Jacob Bryson WPG · 8 P in 50 GP Donovan Sebrango FLA · 8 P in 42 GP Nick DeSimone UTA · 8 P in 40 GP Conor Timmins BUF · 8 P in 39 GP Jaccob Slavin CAR · 8 P in 39 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.

024682024-25: 9 points924-252025-26: 8 points825-262026-27: 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 DAL 38 4 5 9 2 41 39 155 0.24 $918K
2025-26 DAL 50 4 4 8 6 37 27 139 0.16 $918K
2026-27 DAL 5 0 0 0 -2 6 1 18 0.00 $918K
3 seasons Career 93 8 9 17 6 84 67 312 0.18

Playoffs

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2024-25 DAL 18 0 1 1 0 28 12 75 0.06
2025-26 DAL 6 0 0 0 0 4 4 14 0.00
2 seasons Playoffs 24 0 1 1 0 32 16 89 0.04

2025-26 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
50 4 4 8 6 37 27 139 0.16 14.8 15:40

Contract

$918KCap hitends in 2027, then RFA
$115KCap dollars per point8 points in 50 games
$362KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$556KValueworth 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 715 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Dallas Stars on May 6, 2023, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $4.35M, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2026-27, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2024-25 $918K $855K $95K $500K $950K
2025-26 $918K $855K $95K $500K $950K
2026-27 $918K $855K $0 $500K $855K

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
May 6, 2023 Dallas Stars Entry-level 2024-25 to 2026-27 signed for 2023-24, slid 3 $4.35M $918K

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 2025-26 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.

2025-26 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

-0.5Goals above replacement558th of 715 skaters, 168th of 239 defencemen
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-3.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 239 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-2.2 27th percentileEven-strength defence-0.3 49th percentilePower play0.0 72nd percentilePenalty kill+0.1 64th percentilePenalties-0.7 50th 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.

-3-2-1012024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

46.1Corsi for %554 attempts for, 647 against
-1.2CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.3Expected goals for %28.0 expected for, 28.8 against
-3.7xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.9Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
57.4Goals for %27 for, 20 against
104.2PDO10.7% shooting + 93.5% saves
83Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 615 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
Alexander Petrovic · Lian Bichsel27284:5941.145.112-9
Tyler Myers · Lian Bichsel14145:1450.253.86-6
Ilya Lyubushkin · Lian Bichsel25134:2049.156.75-1
Thomas Harley · Lian Bichsel3548:0653.847.01-2

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.

4Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.3Expected goalsfrom 42 unblocked attempts
+2.7Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.10 expected goals per 60 minutes6th
Shot quality 3.1% chance per attempt43rd
Finishing +2.7 goals above expected85thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 240 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

01234Game 20Game 40Goals 4Expected 1.3

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 15, 2026 @ BUF W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 20:37
Apr 11, 2026 vs NYR W 2-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14:51
Apr 9, 2026 vs MIN W 5-4 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 20:25
Apr 7, 2026 vs CGY W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 13:42
Apr 4, 2026 vs COL L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 15:56
Apr 2, 2026 vs WPG W 3-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 16:33
Mar 31, 2026 @ BOS L 3-6 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 15:12
Mar 29, 2026 @ PHI L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14:53
Mar 28, 2026 @ PIT W 6-3 1 0 1 3 0 2 1 14:12
Mar 26, 2026 @ NYI L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 16:11
Mar 24, 2026 vs NJD L 4-6 0 0 0 -2 0 1 2 13:57
Mar 22, 2026 vs VGK L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14:56
Mar 21, 2026 @ MIN L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 2 2 3 14:35
Mar 18, 2026 @ COL W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14:18
Mar 16, 2026 vs UTA L 3-6 0 0 0 0 5 1 4 15:50
Mar 14, 2026 vs DET W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 17:07
Mar 12, 2026 vs EDM W 7-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 16:00
Mar 10, 2026 vs VGK W 2-1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 14:12
Mar 8, 2026 vs CHI W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 0 0 5 13:45
Mar 6, 2026 vs COL L 4-5 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 12:37
Mar 3, 2026 @ CGY W 6-1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 15:36
Mar 2, 2026 @ VAN W 6-1 2 0 2 2 0 2 1 16:49
Feb 28, 2026 vs NSH W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 4 15:33
Feb 25, 2026 vs SEA W 4-1 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 14:30
Nov 30, 2025 vs OTT W 6-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 09:31
Nov 28, 2025 vs UTA W 4-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 20:15
Nov 26, 2025 @ SEA W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 18:55
Nov 25, 2025 @ EDM W 8-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 19:44
Nov 22, 2025 @ CGY L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 21:29
Nov 20, 2025 @ VAN W 4-2 0 0 0 2 2 1 4 18:57
Nov 18, 2025 vs NYI L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 20:34
Nov 15, 2025 vs PHI W 5-1 1 0 1 1 0 1 8 20:47
Nov 13, 2025 @ MTL W 7-0 0 1 1 4 2 0 5 17:21
Nov 11, 2025 @ OTT W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 4 0 6 12:18
Nov 9, 2025 vs SEA W 2-1 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 15:39
Nov 8, 2025 @ NSH W 5-4 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 12:48
Nov 6, 2025 vs ANA L 5-7 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 14:52
Nov 4, 2025 vs EDM W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 13:04
Nov 1, 2025 @ FLA L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14:41
Oct 30, 2025 @ TBL L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 12:29
Oct 28, 2025 vs WSH W 1-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 8 12:19
Oct 26, 2025 @ NSH W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11:59
Oct 25, 2025 vs CAR W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 14:13
Oct 23, 2025 vs LAK L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 12:53
Oct 21, 2025 vs CBJ L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:06
Oct 18, 2025 @ STL L 1-3 0 1 1 -1 0 1 3 16:45
Oct 16, 2025 vs VAN L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:55
Oct 14, 2025 vs MIN W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 18:26
Oct 11, 2025 @ COL W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 14:49
Oct 9, 2025 @ WPG W 5-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 13:14