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Sam Lafferty

Position	Right Wing / Center	Current Team	Chicago Blackhawks
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	2 years ($2.0M CapHit)
Height	6'2"	Expires	2025-26
Weight (lbs)	205	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	31
Age (DOB)	31 (Mar 6, 1995)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2014, Round 4, Overall 113 (PIT)

Date	Team	Transaction
Jul 1, 2025	Chicago Blackhawks	Acquired from Buffalo Sabres
Jul 1, 2025	Buffalo Sabres	Traded to Chicago Blackhawks
Dec 20, 2024	Buffalo Sabres	Activated from IR
Dec 5, 2024	Buffalo Sabres	Placed on IR
Jul 1, 2024	Buffalo Sabres	Signed 2 years @ $2.000M AAV starting in 2024-25
Apr 29, 2022	Chicago Blackhawks	Signed 2 years @ $1.150M AAV starting in 2022-23
Oct 8, 2020	Pittsburgh Penguins	Signed 2 years @ $750K AAV starting in 2020-21
Mar 6, 2018	Pittsburgh Penguins	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/sam-lafferty-8478043.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/sam-lafferty-8478043.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/sam-lafferty-8478043.png

About Player Cards

Player cards present an infographic of a players performance using a series of Player Archetypes developed for Puckalytics.com and TheStanleyCap.com. The boxes in the rink image show the archetype ratings for the season specified in the card while the graphs to the right show the five-year trends for those archetypes.

Except for Faceoffs, the values shown are the players z-score (standard deviation from the mean) for the specific metric used to calculate the archetype values. When calculating z-scores forwards were compared to forwards and defensemen were compared to defensemen. Positive values indicate the player is above average and shaded in blue, while negative values indicate the player is below average and shaded in pink. The five year trend charts show a range of -4.0 to 4.0.

The value shown for Faceoffs is the faceoff winning percentage rather than their z-score with winning percentages below 50 in pink shades and above 50 in blue shades.

All archetypes are 5v5 except 5v4 TOI, 4v5 TOI, Skating (even strength) and Faceoffs (all situations). Archetypes use regular season data only.

Archetypes Summary

Sniper - Measures the to score above the expected goal rate.
Rebound - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rebounds (forwards only).
5v4 TOI - Powerplay ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 5v4 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
Shooter - Measures whether a players points come from shots (goals or assists on rebounds from his shots).
Producer - Measures a players ability to produce goals and assists, adjusted for quality of teammates.
Playmaker - Measures whether a players points come from passes.
Drive - Measures a players ability to drive puck possession and generate shot attempts for his team.
Rush - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rush plays
Possession - An indicator of a players ability to improve his teams puck possession game.
Faceoffs - Faceoff Winning Percentage (min. 75 faceoffs taken).
5v5 TOI - The percentage of his teams 5v5 TOI that the player was on the ice for.
Suppress - Measures a players ability to suppress opponent puck possession and shot attempts against.
Skating - An indicator of a players skating ability, or speed bursts above 20mph per mile skated.
Defend - An indicator of a players ability to suppress shot quality against.
4v5 TOI - Penalty Kill ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 4v5 ice time that the player was on the ice for.

Data Sources

Salary data is from TheStanleyCap.com
Skating data is from NHL Edge
Other statistics are from Puckalytics.com and derived from data from NHL.com

Terms of Use

You are free to use include player cards in written articles, share on social media, or on other public websites under the following conditions:

You credit TheStanleyCap.com as the source and provide a link back to TheStanleyCap.com or this player page.
You do not mass copy/duplicate/publish dozens or hundreds of player cards. A few, or a handful for a written article is fine. Be reasonable. Fair use rules apply.
If you are a high-traffic website you must download and host the image(s) on your site rather than overload TheStanleyCap servers with traffic.

Note: Player cards will update daily throughout the season so if you want to include snapshot then you must download the image.

If you have any questions, send an e-mail to the e-mail address at the top of this page.

Read Introducing Player Archetypes on HockeyAnalysis.com for more details on archetype calculations.

Core Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	Producer	Playmaker	Shooter	Sniper	Rebound	Rush	Skating	Defend
2019-20	PIT	50	0.65	0.11	0.49	0.41	-0.60	0.26	-	1.65
2020-21	PIT	34	-0.67	1.87	-1.41	-2.04	-1.24	0.38	-	-0.54
2021-22	CHI, PIT	56	-0.72	-0.36	-0.76	-0.98	-1.00	0.35	3.32	-0.90
2022-23	CHI, TOR	70	-0.04	0.00	-0.23	0.34	-0.01	0.82	1.70	-0.17
2023-24	VAN	79	-0.06	-1.13	1.23	1.11	0.80	2.69	2.28	-0.30
2024-25	BUF	60	-1.30	-1.35	-0.30	0.02	-0.95	0.46	1.13	0.14
2025-26	CHI	29	-2.00	-1.55	-1.27	0.66	2.28	-1.69	0.05	-0.04

Situational and Secondary Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	5v5 TOI	5v4 TOI	4v5 TOI	Possession	Drive	Suppress	Faceoffs
2019-20	PIT	50	-2.00	-2.05	-0.99	-1.34	-1.30	0.36	49.6
2020-21	PIT	34	-1.68	-2.10	-2.04	-1.95	-1.05	2.18	52.4
2021-22	CHI, PIT	56	-0.77	-1.91	1.39	-0.61	-0.79	-0.22	41.1
2022-23	CHI, TOR	70	-0.24	-1.25	0.66	-0.14	-0.22	-0.10	51.1
2023-24	VAN	79	-0.74	-1.55	-1.50	-1.23	-1.11	0.38	42.1
2024-25	BUF	60	-1.74	-1.96	-1.41	-1.41	-1.64	-0.18	50.6
2025-26	CHI	29	-2.21	-1.85	-1.99	-0.20	-2.23	-3.36	-

About Archetypes

Player archetypes are a look at a players strengths and weaknesses in his game when compared to other players around the leeague. Except for Faceoffs, the values shown are the players z-score (standard deviation from the mean) for the specific metric used to calculate the archetype values. When calculating z-scores forwards were compared to forwards and defensemen were compared to defensemen. Positive values indicate the player is above average and shaded in blue, while negative values indicate the player is below average and shaded in pink. The five year trend charts show a range of -4.0 to 4.0.

The value shown for Faceoffs is the faceoff winning percentage rather than their z-score with winning percentages below 50 in pink shades and above 50 in blue shades.

All archetypes are 5v5 except 5v4 TOI, 4v5 TOI and Faceoffs (all situations). Archetypes use regular season data only.

Archetypes Summary

Producer - Measures a players ability to produce goals and assists, adjusted for quality of teammates.
Playmaker - Measures whether a players points come from passes.
Shooter - Measures whether a players points come from shots (goals or assists on rebounds from his shots).
Sniper - Measures the to score above the expected goal rate.
Rebound - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rebounds (forwards only).
Rush - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rush plays
Skating - An indicator of a players skating ability, or speed bursts above 20mph per mile skated.
Defend - An indicator of a players ability to suppress shot quality against.
5v5 TOI - The percentage of his teams 5v5 TOI that the player was on the ice for.
5v4 TOI - Powerplay ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 5v4 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
4v5 TOI - Penalty Kill ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 4v5 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
Possession - An indicator of a players ability to improve his teams puck possession game.
Drive - Measures a players ability to drive puck possession and generate shot attempts for his team.
Suppress - Measures a players ability to suppress opponent puck possession and shot attempts against.
Faceoffs - Faceoff Winning Percentage (min. 75 faceoffs taken).

Read Introducing Player Archetypes on HockeyAnalysis.com for more details on archetype calculations.

Data Sources

Salary data is from TheStanleyCap.com
Skating data is from NHL Edge
Other statistics are from Puckalytics.com and derived from data from NHL.com

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.
2019-20	PIT	50	440:25	0.68	0.95	1.63	0.59	0.10	9.62	8.27	1.34	4.41	4.41
2020-21	PIT	34	318:09	0.00	1.13	1.13	0.52	-0.52	0.00	8.56	-8.56	4.55	2.27
2021-22	CHI	46	547:25	0.55	0.55	1.10	0.68	-0.14	8.47	10.58	-2.10	5.56	2.78
2021-22	PIT	10	77:00	0.00	1.56	1.56	0.92	-0.92	0.00	14.75	-14.75	0.00	7.69
2021-22	CHI, PIT	56	624:25	0.48	0.67	1.15	0.71	-0.23	7.46	11.08	-3.61	4.71	3.53
2022-23	CHI	51	615:40	0.58	0.78	1.36	0.57	0.02	8.82	8.60	0.23	5.49	6.59
2022-23	TOR	19	211:34	0.57	1.13	1.70	0.45	0.12	11.76	9.27	2.50	5.00	10.00
2022-23	CHI, TOR	70	827:14	0.58	0.87	1.45	0.54	0.04	9.41	8.73	0.68	5.41	7.21
2023-24	VAN	79	831:16	0.87	0.65	1.52	0.65	0.21	17.39	13.12	4.27	9.52	10.48
2024-25	BUF	60	553:13	0.43	0.33	0.76	0.44	-0.00	8.33	8.37	-0.04	3.12	4.69
2025-26	CHI	29	245:13	0.24	0.24	0.49	0.20	0.04	11.11	9.09	2.03	0.00	15.38

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
2019-20	PIT	50	440:25	35.42	1.91	1.83	40.19	1.63	2.15	53.85	45.98	-0.64	-0.17	-5.63
2020-21	PIT	34	318:09	35.46	1.70	2.00	43.56	2.83	2.50	37.50	44.46	-0.48	0.18	-7.21
2021-22	CHI	46	547:25	34.53	1.53	2.13	43.95	3.40	2.34	31.11	47.65	-0.21	-0.37	1.34
2021-22	PIT	10	77:00	45.19	3.12	3.00	35.06	3.12	2.15	50.00	58.27	-0.05	-0.09	0.66
2021-22	CHI, PIT	56	624:25	35.84	1.73	2.24	42.86	3.36	2.32	33.96	49.13	-0.24	-0.31	0.56
2022-23	CHI	51	615:40	37.33	1.85	2.12	43.76	3.31	2.91	35.85	42.12	0.08	-0.14	2.04
2022-23	TOR	19	211:34	35.17	1.99	2.22	46.51	1.99	2.74	50.00	44.72	-0.94	0.30	-11.65
2022-23	CHI, TOR	70	827:14	36.77	1.89	2.14	44.46	2.97	2.87	38.81	42.78	-0.20	-0.02	-2.04
2023-24	VAN	79	831:16	35.44	2.17	1.92	39.34	2.17	2.27	50.00	45.79	-0.68	0.07	-8.32
2024-25	BUF	60	553:13	33.84	1.19	1.71	41.11	2.49	2.42	32.35	41.46	-0.74	-0.12	-7.62
2025-26	CHI	29	245:13	28.14	1.71	1.39	34.74	2.20	1.98	43.75	41.29	-0.96	-1.17	-1.46

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%
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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 Lines

Season

Season	Teammate	Teammate	Team	TOI	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	xGF/60	xGA/60	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
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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

Chicago Blackhawks 2025-26 Player Grades: Sam Lafferty at The Hockey Writers (Tue May 19, 2026)
Blackhawks Player Awards: MVP, Most Improved, Biggest Bromance & More at The Hockey Writers (Thu Apr 23, 2026)
Fatigued, fragile Blackhawks can't find a way to finish off the Blues at Blackhawk Up (Sun Apr 12, 2026)
All Things Must Pass: Blues 5, Blackhawks 3 at Second City Hockey (Sat Apr 11, 2026)
Every Word Handwritten: Devils 4, Blackhawks 3 at Second City Hockey (Thu Nov 13, 2025)
1 Blackhawks player who shouldn't be with the team in November at Blackhawk Up (Wed Oct 29, 2025)
Revisiting the Maple Leafs’ McCabe-Lafferty Deal at The Hockey Writers (Fri Oct 3, 2025)
Blackhawks 2025-26 Player Previews: Sam Lafferty at The Hockey Writers (Fri Aug 29, 2025)
Blackhawks 2025-26 Roster Projections 2.0: Post-Draft & Free Agency at The Hockey Writers (Fri Jul 25, 2025)
Meet The New Blackhawks (Again): Sam Lafferty at The Hockey Writers (Mon Jul 21, 2025)
Blackhawks GM's obsession with Sam Lafferty is underwhelming and unnecessary at Blackhawk Up (Wed Jul 2, 2025)
Sam Lafferty's time in Buffalo is done, and Sabres fans will not miss him at Sabres Noise (Tue Jul 1, 2025)
Blackhawks trade for one of Kyle Davidson's favorite forwards at Blackhawk Up (Tue Jul 1, 2025)

Current Contract

Sam Lafferty signed a $4,000,000 2-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres and General Manager Kevyn Adams on July 1, 2024 with an AAV of $2,000,000. This contract will start in 2024-25 and end after the 2025-26 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 2.27% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2024-25	29	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	-	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	UFA
2025-26	30	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	-	-	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	UFA
Total				-	$1,000,000	$3,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000

Signed: July 1, 2024

Team: Buffalo Sabres

GM: Kevyn Adams

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 2.27

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Sam Lafferty signed a $2,300,000 2-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks and General Manager Kyle Davidson on April 29, 2022 with an AAV of $1,150,000. This contract will start in 2022-23 and end after the 2023-24 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.39% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2022-23	27	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	-	-	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	UFA
2023-24	28	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	-	-	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	UFA
Total				-	-	$2,300,000	$2,300,000	$2,300,000

Signed: Apr 29, 2022

Team: Chicago Blackhawks

GM: Kyle Davidson

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 1.39

Sam Lafferty signed a $1,500,000 2-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and General Manager Jim Rutherford on October 8, 2020 with an AAV of $750,000. This contract will start in 2020-21 and end after the 2021-22 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 0.92% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2020-21	25	$750,000	$750,000	-	-	$700,000	$700,000	$700,000	RFA-arb
2021-22	26	$750,000	$750,000	-	-	$800,000	$800,000	$800,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	-	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000

Signed: Oct 8, 2020

Team: Pittsburgh Penguins

GM: Jim Rutherford

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 0.92

Sam Lafferty signed a $1,535,000 2-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and General Manager Jim Rutherford on March 6, 2018 with an AAV of $767,500. This contract will start in 2018-19 and end after the 2019-20 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 0.97% of the salary cap.

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2018-19	23	$767,500	$925,000	$182,500	$92,500	$650,000	$742,500	$70,000	ELC
2019-20	24	$767,500	$925,000	$132,500	$92,500	$700,000	$792,500	$70,000	ELC
Total				$315,000	$185,000	$1,350,000	$1,535,000	$140,000

Signed: Mar 6, 2018

Team: Pittsburgh Penguins

GM: Jim Rutherford

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

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	USHS-PA	Hollidaysburg Area High	19	19	26	45		14
2010-11	USHS-PA	Hollidaysburg Area High	18	34	35	69		26
2011-12	High-MA	Deerfield	25	8	8	16
2012-13	High-MA	Deerfield	24	9	15	24
2013-14	High-MA	Deerfield	25	21	34	55
2013-14	Minor-MA	Bos. Jr. Bruins	11	2	9	11		2
2014-15	ECAC	Brown U.	31	4	8	12		16
2015-16	NCAA	Brown Univ.	31	4	6	10	-7	4
2016-17	NCAA	Brown Univ.	31	13	22	35	-2	32
2017-18	NCAA	Brown Univ.	31	8	14	22	-10	34
2017-18	AHL	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	9	1	2	3		4
2018-19	AHL	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	70	13	36	49	+1	94
2019-20	AHL	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	6	3	0	3	+1	10
2019-20	NHL	Pittsburgh Penguins	50	6	7	13	+5	23	56	10.7	9:37	1				-1			0.0	7:40
2020-21	NHL	Pittsburgh Penguins	34	0	6	6	-6	25	33	0.0	9:47
2021-22	NHL	Chicago Blackhawks	46	5	6	11	-16	21	71	7.0	14:38
2021-22	NHL	Pittsburgh Penguins	10	0	2	2		16	9	0.0	8:43
2021-22	WC	USA	10	1	2	3	+1	6
2022-23	NHL	Chicago Blackhawks	51	10	11	21	-10	28	83	12.0	15:07
2022-23	NHL	Toronto Maple Leafs	19	2	4	6	-1	9	19	10.5	13:15	9	1	2	3	-1	2	8	12.5	10:41
2023-24	NHL	Vancouver Canucks	79	13	11	24	+4	32	78	16.7	11:53	11				-2	2	7	0.0	8:36
2024-25	NHL	Buffalo Sabres	60	4	3	7	-15	28	50	8.0	9:53
2025-26	NHL	Chicago Blackhawks	29	1	1	2	-2	14	9	11.1	8:36
NHL Career			378	41	51	92	-41	196	408	10.0	11:35	21	1	2	3	-4	4	15	6.7	9:27