VALUE SCORE

The headline efficiency metric. Measures how much a player over or under-performs the production expected for their cap hit. Formula: surplus vs expected = 2.11 × cap$M + 60.2, calibrated on the 2025-26 top-100 scorers. Score of 10 = exactly at market rate. Above 10 = surplus value. Below 10 = underperforming their deal.

PTS/82

Points pace extrapolated to an 82-game season. Removes games-played bias — a player with 60 pts in 60 games scores 82 here, not 60.

P/60

Points per 60 minutes of ice time. Best measure of rate production independent of TOI deployment. A first-line centre typically runs 2.5–3.5 P/60; elite is 4.0+.

$/PT

Cap dollars spent per point. Raw efficiency in dollar terms. League average among scored contracts runs ~$90K–$120K/pt. Under $80K is elite value; over $200K signals an overpay.

CAP %

Player's cap hit as a percentage of the $95.5M ceiling. The "20% rule" — the max any single player can earn — means no one should exceed ~$19.1M. Stars at 10–13% are the sweet spot for competitive rosters.

YEARS LEFT

Seasons remaining on the current contract after this one. Orange = final year or UFA. Important context for value scores — a great value in year 1 may not be re-signable at the same rate.

NMC

No-Movement Clause. The player cannot be traded, waived, or sent to the AHL without their consent. Limits a team's flexibility and increases the cost of a bad contract.

14.0+ · Massively outperforming contract — typically ELC players or heavily team-friendly deals. 1.5+ std above expected output.

10–13.9 · Clear surplus value. Producing meaningfully above what their cap hit commands.

7–9.9 · Near market rate. Output is close to what the contract pays for — slight edge to team.

4–6.9 · Underperforming their deal. Producing below expected output for the cap hit — an overpay.

0–3.9 · Significant cap anchor. Well below expected production. Team is losing the contract.

Where does the data come from?

Stats are pulled live from the NHL Stats REST API (api.nhle.com) each day at 11am ET via a Python cron job. Salary data is curated from public sources (PuckPedia / Spotrac) and stored in a local lookup table keyed by NHL player ID.

Why do some players show no salary data?

The salary DB covers the top ~135 scorers by confirmed player ID. Players outside that range appear without a cap hit. Toggle Show players without salary data to include them — they'll show stats but no value score or $/pt.

Why doesn't the value score account for defensive play?

Points and TOI are the only publicly available real-time stats from the NHL API. Defensive metrics (Corsi, xG against, RAPM) require play-by-play parsing beyond the scope of this dashboard. Value score should be read as offensive production efficiency, not total player value.

Why does the score seem high for entry-level players?

ELCs (entry-level contracts) have very low cap hits — typically $925K–$950K — so even moderate point totals produce extreme value scores. Bedard, Michkov, and Hutson will always look like "ELITE" on this metric regardless of actual performance. Use the score comparatively within pay tiers.

How are comparables selected?

Comps are filtered to the same position code and within ±$3M AAV of the selected player's cap hit, then sorted by proximity to their cap number. Max 6 comparables shown.

How often does salary data update?

Stats refresh daily. Salary data is static until manually updated in the codebase — typically done at the start of each season and after significant offseason signings.