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Sam Steel

Position	Center / Left Wing	Current Team	Dallas Stars
Shoots	Left	Current Contract	2 years ($2.1M CapHit)
Height	6'0"	Expires	2026-27
Weight (lbs)	185	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	29
Age (DOB)	28 (Feb 3, 1998)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2016, Round 1, Overall 30 (ANA)

Date	Team	Transaction
Feb 14, 2025	Dallas Stars	Signed 2 years @ $2.100M AAV starting in 2025-26
Jun 30, 2024	Dallas Stars	Signed 1 year @ $1.200M AAV starting in 2024-25
Jul 1, 2023	Dallas Stars	Signed 1 year @ $850K AAV starting in 2023-24
Aug 30, 2022	Minnesota Wild	Signed 1 year @ $825K AAV starting in 2022-23
Aug 6, 2021	Anaheim Ducks	Signed 1 year @ $874K AAV starting in 2021-22
Dec 20, 2016	Anaheim Ducks	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/sam-steel-8479351.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/sam-steel-8479351.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/sam-steel-8479351.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
2018-19	ANA	22	-0.04	-1.11	1.55	3.31	-0.98	-0.57	-	1.67
2019-20	ANA	65	-1.30	-0.29	-1.31	-1.94	0.33	2.05	-	0.85
2020-21	ANA	42	-0.22	-0.37	-0.03	1.35	1.80	0.33	-	0.64
2021-22	ANA	68	-0.71	-0.29	-0.84	-0.43	0.50	-0.14	-0.63	-0.79
2022-23	MIN	65	-0.55	-0.13	-0.69	-0.42	0.87	-0.07	-0.07	-0.11
2023-24	DAL	77	-0.25	0.36	-0.70	-0.05	-0.31	-0.58	0.24	-0.57
2024-25	DAL	79	0.32	0.92	-0.70	-0.94	-0.09	0.75	-0.03	-0.80
2025-26	DAL	73	0.39	1.22	-0.61	0.04	0.31	-1.04	-0.56	0.28

Situational and Secondary Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	5v5 TOI	5v4 TOI	4v5 TOI	Possession	Drive	Suppress	Faceoffs
2018-19	ANA	22	-0.01	0.05	-1.31	-1.54	-0.69	1.59	49.1
2019-20	ANA	65	0.26	-0.14	-1.47	0.09	-0.36	-0.76	50.3
2020-21	ANA	42	-0.05	-0.55	-1.62	-0.46	-0.55	0.08	52.8
2021-22	ANA	68	-0.79	-1.22	-1.46	-0.92	-0.66	0.69	49.3
2022-23	MIN	65	0.43	-1.14	-0.68	0.89	0.36	-0.93	48.7
2023-24	DAL	77	-0.69	-1.81	0.85	0.03	-0.76	-1.10	45.0
2024-25	DAL	79	-0.36	-1.84	1.08	0.75	-0.76	-2.42	53.5
2025-26	DAL	73	0.45	-1.43	0.84	-0.47	-0.39	0.14	50.6

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.
2018-19	ANA	22	270:27	1.11	0.67	1.77	0.47	0.64	19.23	8.19	11.04	2.94	2.94
2019-20	ANA	65	814:45	0.22	0.66	0.88	0.54	-0.32	4.92	12.02	-7.10	8.25	7.22
2020-21	ANA	42	516:26	0.70	0.70	1.39	0.45	0.25	16.22	10.38	5.83	4.44	11.11
2021-22	ANA	68	760:09	0.39	0.79	1.18	0.47	-0.08	8.20	9.81	-1.61	3.75	7.50
2022-23	MIN	65	818:22	0.59	0.95	1.54	0.70	-0.12	10.39	12.47	-2.09	3.64	10.00
2023-24	DAL	77	849:18	0.49	0.92	1.41	0.50	-0.01	9.46	9.60	-0.14	2.65	7.08
2024-25	DAL	79	920:49	0.33	1.04	1.37	0.51	-0.18	6.49	10.15	-3.66	3.57	7.14
2025-26	DAL	73	937:00	0.58	1.15	1.73	0.60	-0.02	13.24	13.76	-0.52	1.01	9.09

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	ANA	22	270:27	34.83	2.88	1.78	49.92	1.55	3.21	65.00	35.63	-0.37	0.40	-7.76
2019-20	ANA	65	814:45	40.36	1.69	2.35	43.38	2.28	2.61	42.59	47.40	-0.07	-0.21	1.15
2020-21	ANA	42	516:26	36.36	1.98	2.21	39.97	2.44	2.55	44.74	46.42	-0.02	0.09	-1.11
2021-22	ANA	68	760:09	37.81	1.82	2.12	44.75	3.32	2.59	35.38	45.08	-0.33	0.00	-3.61
2022-23	MIN	65	818:22	42.74	2.71	2.77	38.64	2.27	2.51	54.41	52.47	0.45	0.18	2.62
2023-24	DAL	77	849:18	41.12	2.05	2.13	36.45	2.40	2.03	46.03	51.19	-0.67	-0.20	-4.52
2024-25	DAL	79	920:49	37.01	1.56	2.24	36.16	2.35	2.19	40.00	50.62	-0.46	-0.48	0.33
2025-26	DAL	73	937:00	33.94	2.37	2.46	37.97	2.05	2.50	53.62	49.58	-0.07	0.15	-2.23

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

The Anaheim Ducks’ “Lost Championship Core” of Sam Steel & Max Jones at The Hockey Writers (Thu Apr 23, 2026)
Re-picking the 2016 NHL draft: Who goes in the top 3? at ESPN (Thu Apr 9, 2026)
No energy, not many goals, and no win: Stars beat Capitals 4-1 at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Wed Jan 7, 2026)
Sam Steel's 3rd-period redemption leads the Stars to victory over the Sharks at Blackout Dallas (Sat Dec 6, 2025)
Steel the Shootout Hero For Stars in Preseason Opener Against Blues at The Hockey Writers (Sat Sep 20, 2025)
Three Stars that must grow for team success this season at Blackout Dallas (Thu Aug 21, 2025)
Minnesota Wild: Tough Lineup Decisions for Team Looming at Gone Puck Wild (Fri Nov 11, 2022)

Current Contract

Sam Steel signed a $4,200,000 2-year contract with the Dallas Stars and General Manager Jim Nill on February 14, 2025 with an AAV of $2,100,000. This contract will start in 2025-26 and end after the 2026-27 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 2.20% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2025-26	27	$2,100,000	$2,100,000	-	-	$2,300,000	$2,300,000	$2,300,000	UFA
2026-27	28	$2,100,000	$2,100,000	-	-	$1,900,000	$1,900,000	$1,900,000	UFA
Total				-	-	$4,200,000	$4,200,000	$4,200,000

Signed: Feb 14, 2025

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 2.2

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Sam Steel signed a $1,200,000 1-year contract with the Dallas Stars and General Manager Jim Nill on June 30, 2024 with an AAV of $1,200,000. This contract will start in 2024-25 and end after the 2024-25 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.36% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2024-25	26		$1,200,000	$1,200,000	-	-	$1,200,000	$1,200,000	$1,200,000	RFA-arb
Total					-	-	$1,200,000	$1,200,000	$1,200,000

Signed: June 30, 2024

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 1.36

Sam Steel signed a $850,000 1-year contract with the Dallas Stars and General Manager Jim Nill on July 1, 2023 with an AAV of $850,000. This contract will start in 2023-24 and end after the 2023-24 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.02% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2023-24	25		$850,000	$850,000	-	-	$850,000	$850,000	$850,000	RFA-arb
Total					-	-	$850,000	$850,000	$850,000

Signed: July 1, 2023

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: UFA(no QO)

Cap %: 1.02

Sam Steel signed a $825,000 1-year contract with the Minnesota Wild and General Manager Bill Guerin on August 30, 2022 with an AAV of $825,000. This contract will start in 2022-23 and end after the 2022-23 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.00% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2022-23	24		$825,000	$825,000	-	-	$825,000	$825,000	$825,000	RFA-arb
Total					-	-	$825,000	$825,000	$825,000

Signed: Aug 30, 2022

Team: Minnesota Wild

GM: Bill Guerin

Exp. Status: UFA(no QO)

Cap %: 1.0

Sam Steel signed a $874,125 1-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks and General Manager Bob Murray on August 6, 2021 with an AAV of $874,125. This contract will start in 2021-22 and end after the 2021-22 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.07% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2021-22	23		$874,125	$874,125	-	-	$874,125	$874,125	$70,000	RFA
Total					-	-	$874,125	$874,125	$70,000

Signed: Aug 6, 2021

Team: Anaheim Ducks

GM: Bob Murray

Exp. Status: UFA(no QO)

Cap %: 1.07

Sam Steel signed a $2,775,000 3-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks and General Manager Bob Murray on December 20, 2016 with an AAV of $925,000. This contract will start in 2016-17 and end after the 2020-21 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.27% of the salary cap.

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2016-17	18	$925,000	$925,000	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2017-18	19	$894,167	$894,167	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2018-19	20	$863,333	$918,333	-	$92,500	$832,500	$925,000	$70,000	ELC
2019-20	21	$863,333	$918,333	-	-	$832,500	$832,500	$70,000	ELC
2020-21	22	$863,333	$863,333	-	-	$832,500	$832,500	$70,000	ELC
Total				-	$277,500	$2,497,500	$2,775,000	$210,000

Signed: Dec 20, 2016

Team: Anaheim Ducks

GM: Bob Murray

Exp. Status: RFA

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
2010-11	ERBHL	Strathcona Warriors Bantam AA	11	17	15	32
2011-12	AMBHL	Sherwood Park Flyers Bantam AAA	33	26	24	50		10
2011-12	AEHL U15	Sherwood Park Flyers U15 AAA										3	2	6	8		2
2012-13	AMBHL	Sherwood Park Flyers Bantam AAA	31	52	52	104		16
2012-13	AEHL U15	Sherwood Park Flyers U15 AAA										5	3	8	11
2013-14	AJHL	Sherwood Park	1	0	0	0
2013-14	AMHL	Sherwood Park	14	7	16	23		8				3	2	1	3
2013-14	WHL	Regina	5	0	0	0						2				-1
2014-15	WHL	Regina	61	17	37	54	+10	16	17	10,000.0
2015-16	Hlinka Gretzky Cup	Canada U18	4	1	2	3	+1	2
2015-16	U18-Dev	Team White	3	1	0	1		2
2015-16	WHL	Regina	72	23	47	70	-8	24				12	6	10	16	+5	4
2016-17	WHL	Regina Pats	66	50	81	131	+49	40				23	11	19	30	+8	8
2017-18	WJC-20	Canada U20	7	4	5	9	+3
2017-18	M-Cup	Regina Pats	5	2	11	13	-2	4
2017-18	WHL	Regina Pats	54	33	50	83	+27	18				7	1	10	11	+6	2
2018-19	NHL	Anaheim Ducks	22	6	5	11	+2	8	33	18.2	14:58
2018-19	AHL	San Diego Gulls	53	20	21	41	-3	24				16	6	7	13	+5	8
2019-20	NHL	Anaheim Ducks	65	6	16	22	-13	20	85	7.1	15:33
2020-21	NHL	Anaheim Ducks	42	6	6	12	-7	8	42	14.3	14:32
2021-22	NHL	Anaheim Ducks	68	6	14	20	-17	16	66	9.1	12:19
2022-23	NHL	Minnesota Wild	65	10	18	28	+11	18	85	11.8	14:58	5	1	1	2	+1	2	6	16.7	15:35
2023-24	NHL	Dallas Stars	77	9	15	24		29	86	10.5	13:15	19	1	4	5	+1	2	19	5.3	13:15
2024-25	NHL	Dallas Stars	79	6	19	25	-6	31	89	6.7	14:08	18	1	6	7	-1	18	13	7.7	13:54
2025-26	NHL	Dallas Stars	73	12	21	33	+3	24	82	14.6	16:04	6				-7	2	6	0.0	16:40
NHL Career			491	61	114	175	-27	154	568	10.7	14:24	48	3	11	14	-6	24	44	6.8	14:10