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Jiri Kulich

#20 · Centre · Buffalo Sabres

Born Apr 14, 2004 in Kadan, CZE (age 22) · 6'1", 195 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 28th overall in 2022 by BUF (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2024-25. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Philip Tomasino PIT · 24 P in 61 GP Jonatan Berggren DET · 24 P in 75 GP Eetu Luostarinen FLA · 24 P in 80 GP Vasily Podkolzin EDM · 24 P in 82 GP Kevin Hayes PIT · 23 P in 64 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.

051015202023-24: 0 points023-242024-25: 24 points2424-252025-26: 5 points525-262026-27: 2 points226-27

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

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2023-24 BUF 1 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 0.00 $918K
2024-25 BUF 62 15 9 24 -4 18 134 40 0.39 $887K
2025-26 BUF 12 3 2 5 -4 4 20 9 0.42 $887K
2026-27 BUF 4 1 1 2 2 0 4 5 0.50 $887K
4 seasons Career 79 19 12 31 -7 22 159 55 0.39

2024-25 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
62 15 9 24 -4 18 134 40 0.39 11.2 14:48

Contract

$887KCap hitends in 2027, then RFA
$37KCap dollars per point24 points in 62 games
$357KCap dollars per goal above replacement2.5 goals above replacement
$2.7MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$1.8MValueworth 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. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 698 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Jul 15, 2022, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.85M, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2026-27, with 2 seasons 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 $887K $855K $95K $950K
2025-26 $887K $855K $0 $855K
2026-27 $887K $855K $0 $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
Jul 15, 2022 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2024-25 to 2026-27 signed for 2022-23, slid 3 $2.85M $887K

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 2024-25 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.

2024-25 analytics

Rating

+2.5Goals above replacement341st of 698 skaters, 229th of 456 forwards
+0.4Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 456 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+2.8 77th percentileEven-strength defence-1.5 23rd percentilePower play-1.2 5th percentilePenalty kill-0.1 25th percentilePenalties-0.1 33rd 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.

-101232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

52.4Corsi for %856 attempts for, 777 against
+3.0CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.8Expected goals for %35.4 expected for, 35.6 against
+2.5xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
51.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
51.9Goals for %42 for, 39 against
100.0PDO10.4% shooting + 89.6% saves
211Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 598 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

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Tage Thompson · JJ Peterka · Jiri Kulich31156:5153.549.417-9
Tage Thompson · Jiri Kulich · Zach Benson17151:0251.656.810-8
Peyton Krebs · Jiri Kulich · Zach Benson957:1859.059.23-2
Dylan Cozens · Jack Quinn · Jiri Kulich1050:0844.539.72-1

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.

15Goalsnot counting empty-netters
15.4Expected goalsfrom 198 unblocked attempts
-0.4Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.01 expected goals per 60 minutes85th
Shot quality 7.8% chance per attempt49th
Finishing -0.4 goals above expected50thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 428 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

051015Game 20Game 40Game 60Expected 15.4Goals 15

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. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 17, 2025 vs PHI W 5-4 0 0 0 -3 0 0 2 17:36
Apr 15, 2025 vs TOR L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 17:15
Apr 13, 2025 @ TBL L 4-7 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 12:56
Apr 12, 2025 @ FLA L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 17:20
Apr 10, 2025 @ CBJ L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 16:36
Apr 8, 2025 vs CAR W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14:26
Apr 6, 2025 vs BOS W 6-3 0 1 1 2 0 3 0 18:08
Apr 5, 2025 vs TBL W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 18:04
Apr 1, 2025 @ OTT W 5-2 0 0 0 -2 0 5 0 14:20
Mar 30, 2025 @ WSH W 8-5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 2 15:20
Mar 29, 2025 @ PHI L 4-7 0 0 0 -3 2 1 1 14:04
Mar 27, 2025 vs PIT W 7-3 2 0 2 3 2 4 1 19:07
Mar 25, 2025 vs OTT W 3-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 17:04
Mar 15, 2025 vs VGK W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 08:08
Mar 12, 2025 @ DET L 3-7 0 0 0 -1 2 2 0 11:31
Mar 6, 2025 @ TBL L 5-6 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 18:55
Mar 4, 2025 vs SJS L 2-6 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 16:43
Mar 3, 2025 @ MTL L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 15:13
Mar 1, 2025 vs MTL L 2-4 1 0 1 -1 0 3 0 15:39
Feb 27, 2025 @ CAR L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 11:23
Feb 25, 2025 vs ANA W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12:12
Feb 22, 2025 vs NYR W 8-2 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 17:31
Feb 8, 2025 @ NSH L 4-6 0 0 0 -3 0 1 0 15:01
Feb 4, 2025 vs CBJ W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 17:31
Feb 2, 2025 vs NJD W 4-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 15:11
Jan 31, 2025 vs NSH W 4-3 2 0 2 2 4 2 0 15:44
Jan 28, 2025 vs BOS W 7-2 0 1 1 4 0 1 0 13:51
Jan 25, 2025 @ EDM L 2-3 1 0 1 0 0 7 0 16:22
Jan 23, 2025 @ CGY L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 19:07
Jan 21, 2025 @ VAN W 3-2 1 2 3 1 0 3 2 17:47
Jan 20, 2025 @ SEA L 4-6 0 0 0 0 2 6 3 16:26
Jan 6, 2025 vs WSH W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 05:18
Jan 4, 2025 @ VGK L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14:37
Jan 2, 2025 @ COL L 5-6 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 16:36
Dec 31, 2024 @ DAL L 2-4 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 14:50
Dec 29, 2024 @ STL W 4-2 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 12:28
Dec 27, 2024 vs CHI W 6-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 15:55
Dec 23, 2024 @ NYI W 7-1 2 1 3 2 0 3 0 14:57
Dec 21, 2024 @ BOS L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 12:24
Dec 20, 2024 vs TOR L 3-6 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 14:25
Dec 17, 2024 @ MTL L 1-6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 13:54
Dec 15, 2024 @ TOR L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 12:23
Dec 14, 2024 @ WSH L 2-4 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 18:36
Dec 11, 2024 vs NYR L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 12:49
Dec 7, 2024 vs UTA L 2-5 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 14:30
Dec 5, 2024 vs WPG L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 13:47
Dec 3, 2024 vs COL L 4-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 12:22
Nov 30, 2024 @ NYI L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 12:39
Nov 29, 2024 vs VAN L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 13:43
Nov 27, 2024 vs MIN L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 14:18
Nov 23, 2024 @ SJS W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 14:45
Nov 22, 2024 @ ANA W 3-2 (OT) 1 0 1 1 0 4 1 15:46
Nov 20, 2024 @ LAK W 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 09:58
Nov 16, 2024 @ PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12:49
Nov 2, 2024 @ DET L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 14:28
Oct 26, 2024 vs DET W 5-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 11:29
Oct 22, 2024 vs DAL W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13:42
Oct 19, 2024 @ CHI W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 15:19
Oct 17, 2024 @ CBJ L 4-6 1 0 1 1 0 5 0 14:45
Oct 12, 2024 vs FLA W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 17:39
Oct 10, 2024 vs LAK L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 15:27
Oct 5, 2024 @ NJD L 1-3 0 0 0 -2 2 0 2 14:00