Regular season

Esa Lindell

Dallas Stars · D · #23

Third-pair DSteady Blueliner?179 blocks across 82 games of regular duty

HT: 6'3"
WT: 217 lb
Age: 32
Shoots: L
From: Vantaa, FIN
Draft: 2012 DAL · R3 #74

72Alpha?

Alpha sub-scores

what drives the rating · percentile vs position group

6767pctl

5050pctl

3737pctl

7070pctl

League profile

vs. defensemen with 20+ GP

0.3972pctl

0.0762pctl

0.3274pctl

1.044pctl

+3095pctl

267pctl

HockeyAlpha advanced

event-derived proxies · 1,312 games analyzed

3.1%33pctl

0.355pctl

0.0624pctl

Def Suppression?

0.8889pctl

Defenseman toolkit

vs. defensemen with 20+ GP

2.1897pctl

5.6388pctl

Blocks / 100 shifts?

9.198pctl

0.911pctl

0.2755pctl

0:4565pctl

3:5699pctl

On-ice impact

shift charts × our xG model · 49 GP tracked · 19h TOI

On-ice xG share (5v5)?

49.6%50pctl

On-ice goal share (5v5)?

57.9%83pctl

O-zone deployment?

48%40pctl

Usage profile

assignment difficulty · higher fill = tougher job

Competition faced?

18.1 min96pctl

Support received?

17.7 min37pctl

D-zone deployment?

52%60pctl

Micro-metrics

Structural Metric Model · sequences, geometry & leverage from every shot

Cross-slot shots / GP?

0.0423pctl

Net-front presence / GP?

0.157pctl

Second-chance touches / GP?

0.1721pctl

1.07×91pctl

Cross-slot suppressed?

0.38/gm7pctl

Pressure escape rate?

7.1%32pctl

2025-26 regular season · Percentile beams: fill = league percentile, tick = league median · hockeyalpha.com

The Blueprint

Structural Event Engine · percentile vs defensemen · center = median · 1521 EV min

General Offense

2.6018

3.0446

Shot Setups/60?

0.3913

Chance Setups/60?

0.3920

Primary Contributions/60?

3.0014

Rebounds Created/60?

0.2027

Playmaking Sequences

Point Shot Setups/60?

0.0030

Center-Lane Setups/60?

0.3234

High-Danger Setups/60?

0.1240

Deflection Setups/60?

0.0034

One-Timer Setups/60?

0.0844

Offense Types

Cycle Offense/60?

1.0715

Rush Offense/60?

3.759

Shots off HD Setups/60?

0.1623

0.2859

0.1682

Deflections/60?

0.2082

Zone Entries

Entries Started/60?

0.0030

Entries Finished/60?

0.0411

Entries w/ Chance/60?

0.0016

DZ Retrievals / Exits

DZ Involvements/60?

3.4382

0.3941

3.0484

Retrieval Success %?

11%28

Exit Involvements/60?

0.0036

Exit Success %?

0%36

Forechecking

0.3239

Dump-In Recoveries/60?

0.0048

Derived from event sequences in public play-by-play data - the ? on each metric explains exactly how it's computed. · hockeyalpha.com

Contract & market

Contract value?

beta · cap data: CapWages

$5.25M

cap hit

$5.42M

Alpha-market value

overpaidmarketsurplus

C

Fair market deal (+$0.2M)

Top comparables?

nearest profiles at the same role · match = statistical fit

Player	Alpha	Archetype	Production	Cap hit	Market	Value	Match
Esa Lindell	72	Steady Blueliner	32 P · 82 GP	$5.25M	$5.42M	C+$0.2M	this player
Simon Edvinsson	76	Steady Blueliner	25 P · 72 GP	$0.89M	$6.75M	A++$5.9M	83%
Travis Sanheim	74	Steady Blueliner	37 P · 81 GP	$6.25M	$6.07M	C−$0.2M	82%
Rasmus Sandin	74	Steady Blueliner	29 P · 73 GP	$4.60M	$6.07M	B+$1.5M	82%
Cam York	75	Steady Blueliner	26 P · 74 GP	$5.15M	$6.40M	B+$1.3M	82%

Chemistry

Top connection: Miro Heiskanen · 5 goals together

Finishes from

assisters on Esa’s goals

Creates for

goals Esa assisted on

From official goal credits - scorer + assists on every goal, all season.

Recent form · last 10 games

5 pts · 1 G · 4 A · 11 shots in last 10Heating up(+0.6 P/GP vs prior 5)

@ PIT

1P

0G 1A

@ PIT 03-28

0G 1A · 0 shots · 22:20 TOI

@ PHI

0P

0G 0A

@ PHI 03-29

0G 0A · 0 shots · 23:01 TOI

@ BOS

0P

0G 0A

@ BOS 03-31

0G 0A · 1 shots · 20:14 TOI

vs WPG

0P

0G 0A

vs WPG 04-02

0G 0A · 3 shots · 22:16 TOI

vs COL

0P

0G 0A

vs COL 04-04

0G 0A · 0 shots · 19:10 TOI

vs CGY

0P

0G 0A

vs CGY 04-07

0G 0A · 0 shots · 20:36 TOI

vs MIN

2P

0G 2A

vs MIN 04-09

0G 2A · 3 shots · 25:03 TOI

vs NYR

0P

0G 0A

vs NYR 04-11

0G 0A · 1 shots · 22:57 TOI

@ TOR

0P

0G 0A

@ TOR 04-13

0G 0A · 0 shots · 21:22 TOI

@ BUF

2P

1G 1A

@ BUF 04-15

1G 1A · 3 shots · 22:14 TOI

Tile tint = points that night · underline = shot volume (full bar = 8+ shots) · oldest on the left

The Territory

attacking → · every recorded touch, normalized to one end

Goal On goal Missed/blocked▲ takeaway▽ giveaway■ hit＋ block◯ faceoff dot (size = wins)403 events shown

The office: the right point - 2 of 6 goals live there

Playmaking gravity: 12 touches that produced a teammate shot within 3s

Defensive floor: 179 blocks · 18 steals inside the d-zone

NHL career · regular season

Season	Team	GP	G	A	P	+/−
2015-16	Dallas Stars	4	0	0	0	-3
2016-17	Dallas Stars	73	6	12	18	8
2017-18	Dallas Stars	80	7	20	27	19
2018-19	Dallas Stars	82	11	21	32	14
2019-20	Dallas Stars	69	3	20	23	5
2020-21	Dallas Stars	56	5	11	16	11
2021-22	Dallas Stars	76	4	21	25	4
2022-23	Dallas Stars	82	8	16	24	29
2023-24	Dallas Stars	82	5	21	26	17
2024-25	Dallas Stars	80	5	21	26	34
2025-26	Dallas Stars	82	6	26	32	30
Career	1 team	766	60	189	249	168