Esa Lindell

Defenceshoots L·DAL
Drafted 2012 · #74 DAL32 yrs191cm · 98kg
NHL points11 seasons
32
NHL high
766
NHL GP
4
leagues
Contract
$5.25Mcap hit· through 2029-30 (4 years left)
UFA in 2030M-NTC

Development comparables

Every league season translated to a common NHL-equivalent scale and indexed by age. These players’ development paths most resemble Esa’s across the whole pyramid, not just the NHL.

Curve = best season per age on the NHLe scale (blue = Esa). Match = inverse distance between overlapping age curves.

Projection · modelnhle-baseline-v1
NHLe ⓘ
15.9
proj. NHL points / 82
range 10.3 to 21.5 · translated from AHL 2016-17

NHLe is a population-level translation, not a forecast; elite outliers exceed it. Factors are published, cited and tunable.

SAT% and shot share · 5v5

2025-26 · 82 GP · 17.5 min/gp
SAT%
48.1%
shot attempts
SAT% adjusted
47.8%
zone starts out
USAT%
49.8%
unblocked
PDO
101
100 = neutral
O-zone starts
48.2%
of zone faceoffs

Measured by joining the NHL’s official shift charts to its play-by-play. These describe play while he was on the ice, not his individual skill. All five skaters are credited with the same shot attempt, so a depth player on a team that controls the puck will post strong numbers. Adjusted SAT% drops the ten seconds after every faceoff, so a player handed the offensive zone gets no credit for territory he did not earn. How these are calculated.

Shooting · expected goals

2025-26 · 119 shots
Goals
6
actual
Expected
4.5
sum of chances
Vs expected
+1.5
finishing
Chance quality
0.037
xG per shot
Loading shots…

A model (xg-hgb-iso-v1), not a measurement. Every unblocked shot is scored on where it came from, what type it was and what happened just before it. The model does NOT know who took it, which is the point: the gap between goals and expected goals is what the shooter added beyond the chance itself. Empty-net and blocked attempts are excluded. How this is built.

With or without you (WOWY)

most 5v5 ice together
LinemateMinSAT% withSAT% without
Miro Heiskanen101549.2%45.6%(709)
Wyatt Johnston49147.7%48.4%(1540)
Jason Robertson48152.2%45.8%(1540)
Mavrik Bourque42653.5%46.0%(1721)
Sam Steel38245.3%49.2%(1730)

Shot share at 5v5 with each linemate, and away from him. The number in brackets is how many attempts the apart figure rests on. Top duos are rarely split up, so that half is often the thin one. Read it as a hint, not a verdict.

Career pyramid

18 stops · tap to expand