The Stanley Cap | Erik Cernak Salary/Contract Information, News, Statistics, Analytics and more

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Erik Cernak

Position	Right Defense	Current Team	Tampa Bay Lightning
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	8 years
Height	6'4"	Expires	2030-31
Weight (lbs)	230	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	34
Age	28 (May 28, 1997)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2015, Round 2, Overall 43 (LAK)

Date	Team	Transaction
Jul 13, 2022	Tampa Bay Lightning	Signed 8 years @ $5.200M AAV starting in 2023-24
Dec 22, 2020	Tampa Bay Lightning	Signed 3 years @ $2.950M AAV starting in 2020-21
Jul 14, 2015	Los Angeles Kings	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

5v5 Individual Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	G/60	A/60	Pts/60	xG/60	GAE/60	Sh%	xSh%	Sh%AE	%SA Rush	%SA Reb.
2018-19	TBL	58	906:53	0.26	0.73	0.99	0.27	-0.01	3.92	4.00	-0.08	0.00	0.76
2019-20	TBL	67	985:27	0.24	0.43	0.67	0.25	-0.00	3.70	3.73	-0.03	0.00	3.50
2020-21	TBL	46	712:31	0.42	0.76	1.18	0.29	0.13	6.58	4.50	2.08	2.83	1.89
2021-22	TBL	55	848:26	0.07	0.85	0.92	0.22	-0.15	1.28	4.02	-2.74	0.85	1.69
2022-23	TBL	70	1085:06	0.06	0.61	0.66	0.21	-0.16	1.19	4.55	-3.36	1.74	1.74
2023-24	TBL	69	1066:20	0.11	0.51	0.62	0.09	0.02	4.65	3.71	0.95	3.08	1.54
2024-25	TBL	76	1143:20	0.10	0.47	0.58	0.14	-0.04	3.45	4.63	-1.18	0.98	0.98
2025-26	TBL	4	60:31	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.12	-0.12	0.00	5.83	-5.83	0.00	0.00

5v5 On Ice Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	SAF/60	GF/60	xGF/60	SAA/60	GA/60	xGA/60	GF%	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
2018-19	TBL	58	906:53	43.07	3.57	2.68	39.56	2.25	2.25	61.36	54.34	0.01	-0.29	3.07
2019-20	TBL	67	985:27	40.85	2.56	2.29	39.70	2.31	2.25	52.50	50.51	-0.30	0.07	-3.83
2020-21	TBL	46	712:31	40.93	2.69	2.47	35.28	2.53	2.02	51.61	55.09	0.06	-0.21	3.03
2021-22	TBL	55	848:26	42.93	2.69	2.61	37.69	2.62	2.41	50.67	51.95	-0.06	-0.19	1.36
2022-23	TBL	70	1085:06	41.14	2.49	2.75	38.15	2.49	2.50	50.00	52.35	-0.10	-0.07	-0.16
2023-24	TBL	69	1066:20	36.01	2.53	2.30	41.02	2.70	2.44	48.39	48.50	-0.19	0.08	-2.81
2024-25	TBL	76	1143:20	38.47	2.47	2.28	41.09	1.78	2.33	58.02	49.47	-0.21	-0.05	-1.63
2025-26	TBL	4	60:31	29.74	2.97	2.05	46.60	3.97	2.08	42.86	49.69	-0.18	-0.25	0.76

NHL Edge Stats

		Skating				Shooting					Zone Time
Season	GP	Top Speed	Bursts>20/mi	Avg. Speed	ES Avg. Speed	Top Speed	Avg. Speed	%Long Range	%Mid Range	%High Danger	ES DZ%	ES NZ%	ES OZ%
2021-22	55	22.8	0.2	8.1	8.4	93.7	66.7	76.5	20.6	2.9	0.4	0.2	0.4
2022-23	70	22.6	0.2	8.3	8.6	91.7	65.5	67.1	28.6	4.3	0.4	0.2	0.4
2023-24	69	21.9	0.1	8.3	8.6	89.1	67.4	81.1	16.2	2.7	0.4	0.2	0.4
2024-25	76	21.9	0.2	8.5	8.7	93.0	67.1	72.0	24.0	4.0	0.4	0.2	0.4
2025-26	4	21.3	0.4	8.6	8.9	74.8	61.2	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.4

Legend

Percentile 0-25

Percentile 25-50

Percentile 50-75

Percentile 75-100

Forwards are compared with forwards and Defensemen are are compared with Defensemen.

5v5 Defense Pairs

Season

Season	Team	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	xGF/60	xGA/60	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
2025-26	TBL	4.02	4.02	50.00	2.13	1.58	57.43	-0.06	-0.88	10.37
2024-25	TBL	2.53	1.48	63.08	2.32	2.35	49.77	-0.13	-0.02	-1.14
2024-25	TBL	3.78	1.89	66.67	2.84	2.16	56.75	0.41	-0.19	5.97
2024-25	TBL	1.26	3.79	25.00	1.46	2.15	40.56	-0.96	-0.23	-9.89
2024-25	TBL	1.79	5.38	25.00	1.38	2.88	32.49	-0.99	0.53	-17.81
2023-24	TBL	3.00	2.50	54.55	2.76	2.73	50.22	0.36	0.40	-0.40
2023-24	TBL	2.04	3.58	36.36	2.47	2.36	51.12	-0.02	-0.14	1.29
2023-24	TBL	3.08	1.71	64.29	2.08	2.46	45.84	-0.36	-0.02	-3.85
2023-24	TBL	1.93	2.70	41.67	2.21	2.41	47.91	-0.22	0.04	-2.83
2023-24	TBL	3.80	2.72	58.33	2.25	2.05	52.28	-0.21	-0.33	1.56
2023-24	TBL	0.00	3.14	0.00	1.29	2.21	36.85	-1.20	-0.07	-15.38
2023-24	TBL	2.98	4.47	40.00	2.18	2.48	46.78	-0.22	0.13	-3.77
2023-24	TBL	3.39	1.69	66.67	1.86	1.84	50.24	-0.56	-0.54	-0.08
2022-23	TBL	2.92	2.21	56.86	2.78	2.28	54.86	-0.08	-0.30	2.39
2022-23	TBL	2.29	3.05	42.86	2.74	3.03	47.50	-0.12	0.48	-5.34
2022-23	TBL	2.10	2.70	43.75	3.01	2.62	53.44	0.17	0.07	0.75
2022-23	TBL	0.00	0.00	-	1.64	1.53	51.72	-1.08	-0.93	-0.73
2021-22	TBL	2.37	2.23	51.52	2.25	2.25	50.07	-0.47	-0.39	-0.67
2021-22	TBL	3.22	3.68	46.67	2.97	2.66	52.73	0.35	0.15	1.71
2021-22	TBL	3.43	1.47	70.00	3.08	2.38	56.33	0.43	-0.15	5.20
2020-21	TBL	2.65	1.82	59.26	2.63	2.01	56.69	0.22	-0.20	4.52
2020-21	TBL	3.71	2.85	56.52	2.24	1.62	58.04	-0.22	-0.59	5.40
2020-21	TBL	1.53	3.06	33.33	2.53	2.56	49.75	0.10	0.42	-3.48
2019-20	TBL	2.57	2.10	55.00	2.20	2.08	51.43	-0.40	-0.20	-1.84
2019-20	TBL	2.23	1.12	66.67	2.55	1.91	57.17	0.06	-0.30	4.17
2019-20	TBL	3.21	4.49	41.67	2.35	2.65	46.97	-0.13	0.39	-5.30
2019-20	TBL	1.88	4.71	28.57	1.78	2.97	37.47	-0.76	0.86	-17.16
2018-19	TBL	3.57	2.28	61.04	2.64	2.19	54.65	-0.05	-0.35	3.29
2018-19	TBL	6.32	2.53	71.43	3.16	3.44	47.85	0.41	1.04	-5.53
2018-19	TBL	2.66	0.00	100.00	2.94	1.24	70.40	0.29	-1.18	18.08

Glossary

Type	Statistic	Definition
Individual	G/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes.
Individual	A/60	Assists per 60 minutes.
Individual	Pts/60	Points per 60 minutes.
Individual	xG/60	Expected Goals per 60 minutes.
Individual	GAE/60	Goals Above Expected (G/60 - xG/60).
Individual	Sh%	Shooting Percentage.
Individual	xSh%	Expected Shooting Percentage.
Individual	Sh%AE	Shooting percentage above expected (Sh% - xSh%).
Individual	%SA Rush	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be on the rush.
Individual	%SA Reb.	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be from rebounds.
On Ice	SAF/60	Shot Attempts For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	GF/60	Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	xGF/60	Expected Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	SAA/60	Shot Attempts Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GA/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	xGA/60	Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GF%	Goals For Percentage = Goals For / (Goals For + Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF%	Expected Goals For Percentage = Expected Goals For / (Expected Goals For + Expected Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF Rel	xGF/60 when On Ice - xGF/60 when not On Ice.
On Ice	xGA Rel	xGA/60 when On Ice - xGA/60 when not On Ice (lower is better).
On Ice	xGF% Rel	xGF% when On Ice - xGF% when not On Ice.

Individual and On-Ice stats from Puckalytics.com (starting in 2015-16). NHL Edge Stats from edge.nhl.com (starting in 2021-22). Edge statistic definitions can be found at the Edge Stats Glossary.

News and Opinions

Lightning score early, defend late to pick up 4-3 victory over the Bruins at Raw Charge (Mon Oct 13, 2025)
Your 2025-26 Tampa Bay Lightning Roster at Raw Charge (Tue Oct 7, 2025)
2025 Tampa Bay Lightning Top 25 Under 25: #12 Roman Schmidt at Raw Charge (Thu Sep 25, 2025)
Tampa Bay is still a problem the Red Wings can’t afford to underestimate at Octopus Thrower (Thu Sep 11, 2025)
The Seattle Kraken’s 5 Worst Contracts: A heavy cap for the middle of the roster at Kraken Chronicle (Mon Aug 25, 2025)

Current Contract

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2023-24	26		$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$5,500,000	$1,260,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	RFA-arb
2024-25	27	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$4,500,000	$2,260,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	UFA
2025-26	28	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	-	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	UFA
2026-27	29	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	-	$5,096,000	$5,096,000	$5,096,000	UFA
2027-28	30	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2028-29	31	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2029-30	32	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2030-31	33	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
Total					-	$14,000,000	$27,600,000	$41,600,000	$41,600,000

Signed: July 13, 2022

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

GM: Julien Brisebois

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 6.23

Clause: Starting June 15, 2027 player submits a list of 16 teams he'd accept a trade to.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2020-21	23	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	$700,000	$775,000	$1,475,000	$1,475,000	RFA
2021-22	24	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	$1,000,000	$1,950,000	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	RFA-arb
2022-23	25	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	-	$4,425,000	$4,425,000	$4,425,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	$1,700,000	$7,150,000	$8,850,000	$8,850,000

Signed: Dec 22, 2020

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

GM: Julien Brisebois

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Cap %: 3.62

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2016-17	19	$732,500	$925,000	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2017-18	20	$708,333	$900,833	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2018-19	21	$697,500	$890,000	$227,500	$92,500	$650,000	$742,500	$70,000	ELC
2019-20	22	$697,500	$890,000	$202,500	-	$650,000	$650,000	$70,000	ELC
2020-21	23	$697,500	$890,000	$147,500	-	$700,000	$700,000	$70,000	ELC
Total				$577,500	$277,500	$2,000,000	$2,277,500	$210,000

Signed: July 14, 2015

Team: Los Angeles Kings

GM: Dean Lombardi

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Note: This entry level contract slid two seasons as player did not meet the games played threshold to start the contract.

Career Statistics

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Season	League	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G
2009-10	QC Int PW	Slovakia K&B Stars	4	0	1	1		4
2011-12	Svk-U18	Kosice U18	37	5	4	9		61
2012-13	Slovak-2	Slovakia U20 B	8	2	0	2		18
2012-13	Slovak-Jr.	Bratislava Jr.	30	4	6	10		18				12		1	1		8
2012-13	Svk-U18	Bratislava U18										1		2	2
2013-14	Slovakia	Slovakia U20	20	2	1	3		2
2013-14	Slovak-Jr.	Kosice Jr.	8	1	3	4		16
2013-14	Slovakia	Kosice	13	0	0	0						7					2
2014-15	Slovakia	Kosice	43	5	8	13		16				7		1	1		6
2015-16	WJ18-A	Slovakia	5	0	0	0	-2		1
2015-16	WJC-20	Slovakia U20	4	0	0	0	+1	2
2015-16	OHL	Erie	41	4	11	15	+7	35	76	530.0		13		6	6	+4	10	27	0.0
2016-17	M-Cup	Erie Otters	5	0	2	2		2
2016-17	WJC-20	Slovakia U20	5	0	1	1	-3	2
2016-17	OHL	Erie Otters	50	3	18	21	+31	53				22	1	8	9	+17	10
2017-18	AHL	Syracuse Crunch	71	5	13	18	+30	70				7	1	1	2		4
2018-19	AHL	Syracuse Crunch	9	2	5	7	-1	14
2018-19	WC	Slovakia	7	3	2	5	+3	8
2018-19	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	58	5	11	16	+25	58	107	4.7	19:15	4		3	3	-2		7	0.0	21:29
2019-20	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	67	5	7	12	+11	59	125	4.0	18:57	25		4	4	+2	12	32	0.0	20:43
2020-21	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	46	5	13	18	+8	38	85	5.9	19:47	21	1	9	10	+12	16	36	2.8	19:57
2021-22	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	55	1	12	13	+7	46	86	1.2	19:09	23	1	1	2	+1	12	22	4.5	19:20
2022-23	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	2	14	16	+8	53	87	2.3	19:14	1					2	1	0.0	9:27
2023-24	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	69	2	11	13	+5	63	53	3.8	19:11	5		1	1		2	2	0.0	20:39
2024-25	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	76	3	18	21	+29	50	64	4.7	18:16	5	1		1	+1	4	14	7.1	17:56
2025-26	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	4	0	0	0	-1	4	2	0.0	19:32
NHL Career			445	23	86	109	+92	371	609	3.8	19:04	84	3	18	21	+14	48	114	2.6	19:52