Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Nick Blankenburg

Nick Blankenburg

#3 · Defence · Toronto Maple Leafs

Born May 12, 1998 in Washington, Michigan, USA (age 28) · 5'9", 179 lb · Shoots right

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.

Daemon Hunt MIN · 1 P in 12 GP Jack St. Ivany PIT · 1 P in 14 GP Nikolai Knyzhov SJS · 1 P in 10 GP Adam Ginning PHI · 1 P in 9 GP Tyler Kleven OTT · 1 P in 9 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.

051015202021-22: 3 points321-222022-23: 14 points1422-232023-24: 1 points123-242024-25: 16 points1624-252025-26: 24 points2425-262026-27: 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
2021-22 CBJ 7 1 2 3 -3 4 13 19 0.43 $1.688M
2022-23 CBJ 36 4 10 14 -16 16 50 61 0.39 $825K
2023-24 CBJ 12 1 0 1 1 4 10 21 0.08 $825K
2024-25 NSH 60 4 12 16 -2 24 84 53 0.27 $775K
2025-26 NSH 49 6 15 21 -11 10 59 47 0.43 $775K
2025-26 COL 12 2 1 3 1 0 13 8 0.25
2026-27 TOR 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 4 1.00 $1.4M
6 seasons Career 177 19 40 59 -29 58 230 213 0.33

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 COL 5 1 0 1 -2 2 2 3 0.20
1 season Playoffs 5 1 0 1 -2 2 2 3 0.20

2023-24 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
12 1 0 1 1 4 10 21 0.08 10.0 16:13

Contract

$825KCap hitends in 2024
$825KCap dollars per point1 points in 12 games
$695KCap dollars per goal above replacement1.2 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

Signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jul 15, 2022, as a new contract: 2 years and $1.65M, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2023-24, so this is its last season.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2022-23 $825K $800K $0 $800K
2023-24 $825K $850K $0 $850K

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
Sep 27, 2026 Toronto Maple Leafs New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $1.4M $1.4M
Jul 1, 2024 Nashville Predators New contract 2024-25 to 2025-26 2 $1.55M $775K
Jul 15, 2022 Columbus Blue Jackets New contract 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $1.65M $825K
Apr 8, 2022 Columbus Blue Jackets Entry-level 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $925K $1.688M

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

+1.2Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.5Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.1Even-strength defence+0.6Power play0.0Penalty kill+0.0Penalties+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.

0123452021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals 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

46.9Corsi for %179 attempts for, 203 against
+1.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.8Expected goals for %7.9 expected for, 7.9 against
+7.8xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
55.6Goals for %10 for, 8 against
103.7PDO10.9% shooting + 92.8% saves
27Attempts 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
Zach Werenski · Nick Blankenburg1080:3943.648.48-6
David Jiricek · Nick Blankenburg871:2551.142.91-2
Erik Gudbranson · Nick Blankenburg510:0147.681.90-0
Ivan Provorov · Nick Blankenburg67:2523.150.70-0

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.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.5Expected goalsfrom 17 unblocked attempts
+0.5Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.15 expected goals per 60 minutes35th
Shot quality 3.0% chance per attempt39th
Finishing +0.5 goals above expected62ndOne 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.

00.20.40.60.81Goals 1Expected 0.5

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 16, 2024 vs CAR W 6-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14:49
Apr 13, 2024 @ NSH L 4-6 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 16:11
Apr 11, 2024 @ FLA L 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 16:40
Apr 9, 2024 @ TBL L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 13:46
Apr 7, 2024 @ CAR L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12:03
Apr 6, 2024 vs PHI W 6-2 1 0 1 1 4 1 1 13:51
Dec 19, 2023 @ BUF W 9-4 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 18:42
Dec 16, 2023 vs NJD L 3-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 15:42
Dec 14, 2023 @ TOR W 6-5 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 21:22
Dec 10, 2023 vs FLA L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 15:27
Dec 8, 2023 vs STL W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 19:02
Dec 7, 2023 @ NYI L 3-7 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 17:00