Regular season

Jiri Kulich

Buffalo Sabres · C · #20

Middle-six playerMiddle-Six Engine?Reliable minutes: 5 points and honest two-way play

HT: 6'1"
WT: 193 lb
Age: 22
Shoots: L
From: Kadan, CZE
Draft: 2022 BUF · R1 #28

71Alpha?

Alpha sub-scores

what drives the rating · percentile vs position group

5959pctl

5757pctl

6565pctl

5959pctl

League profile

vs. forwards with 20+ GP

0.4249pctl

0.2570pctl

0.1731pctl

1.761pctl

-442pctl

016pctl

HockeyAlpha advanced

event-derived proxies · 1,312 games analyzed

7.6%77pctl

3.2187pctl

0.3798pctl

Def Suppression?

1.0093pctl

Center toolkit

vs. centers with 20+ GP

41.7%12pctl

D-Zone FO %?

51.0%61pctl

13.682pctl

0.103pctl

1:3864pctl

0:0113pctl

On-ice impact

shift charts × our xG model · 6 GP tracked · 2h TOI

On-ice xG share (5v5)?

42.7%8pctl

Usage profile

assignment difficulty · higher fill = tougher job

Competition faced?

17.1 min30pctl

Support received?

18.7 min12pctl

Micro-metrics

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

Cross-slot shots / GP?

0.1795pctl

Net-front presence / GP?

0.8250pctl

Second-chance touches / GP?

0.5891pctl

Cross-slot suppressed?

0.17/gm73pctl

Pressure escape rate?

2.9%0pctl

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

The Blueprint

Structural Event Engine · percentile vs forwards · center = median · 177 EV min

General Offense

4.0833

7.1444

Shot Setups/60?

0.6839

Chance Setups/60?

0.6846

Primary Contributions/60?

4.7633

Rebounds Created/60?

0.6864

Playmaking Sequences

Point Shot Setups/60?

0.0038

Center-Lane Setups/60?

0.6857

High-Danger Setups/60?

0.0030

Deflection Setups/60?

0.0043

One-Timer Setups/60?

0.0033

Offense Types

Cycle Offense/60?

1.0238

Rush Offense/60?

6.8042

Shots off HD Setups/60?

1.0266

0.6844

0.3467

Deflections/60?

0.6832

Zone Entries

Entries Started/60?

0.0033

Entries Finished/60?

0.6847

Entries w/ Chance/60?

0.6864

DZ Retrievals / Exits

DZ Involvements/60?

0.6833

0.0031

0.6842

Exit Involvements/60?

0.0042

Forechecking

2.7246

Dump-In Recoveries/60?

0.0046

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

$0.89M

cap hit

$4.78M

Alpha-market value

overpaidmarketsurplus

A

Team-friendly deal (+$3.9M)

Top comparables?

nearest profiles at the same role · match = statistical fit

Player	Alpha	Archetype	Production	Cap hit	Market	Value	Match
Jiri Kulich	71	Middle-Six Engine	5 P · 12 GP	$0.89M	$4.78M	A+$3.9M	this player
Ben Kindel	71	Middle-Six Engine	35 P · 77 GP	$0.97M	$4.78M	A+$3.8M	92%
Brayden Schenn	70	Depth Forward	39 P · 80 GP	$6.50M	$4.50M	D−$2.0M	88%
Mason McTavish	74	Middle-Six Engine	41 P · 75 GP	$7.00M	$5.68M	D−$1.3M	86%
Cole Perfetti	71	Depth Forward	32 P · 68 GP	$3.25M	$4.78M	B+$1.5M	86%

Chemistry

Top connection: Tage Thompson · 4 goals together

Finishes from

assisters on Jiri’s goals

Creates for

goals Jiri assisted on

Tage Thompson21 as primary

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

Recent form · last 10 games

5 pts · 3 G · 2 A · 17 shots in last 10Steady(+0.2 P/GP vs prior 5)

vs COL

0P

0G 0A

vs COL 10-13

0G 0A · 4 shots · 16:09 TOI

vs OTT

1P

1G 0A

vs OTT 10-15

1G 0A · 1 shots · 13:45 TOI

vs FLA

0P

0G 0A

vs FLA 10-18

0G 0A · 3 shots · 15:37 TOI

@ MTL

1P

1G 0A

@ MTL 10-20

1G 0A · 2 shots · 18:00 TOI

vs DET

0P

0G 0A

vs DET 10-22

0G 0A · 2 shots · 15:41 TOI

vs TOR

2P

1G 1A

vs TOR 10-24

1G 1A · 1 shots · 16:50 TOI

@ TOR

1P

0G 1A

@ TOR 10-25

0G 1A · 1 shots · 15:24 TOI

vs CBJ

0P

0G 0A

vs CBJ 10-28

0G 0A · 1 shots · 19:56 TOI

@ BOS

0P

0G 0A

@ BOS 10-30

0G 0A · 1 shots · 18:05 TOI

vs WSH

0P

0G 0A

vs WSH 11-01

0G 0A · 1 shots · 11:19 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)87 events shown

The office: the inner slot - 3 of 3 goals live there

Defensive floor: 15 blocks · 0 steals inside the d-zone

NHL career · regular season

Season	Team	GP	G	A	P	+/−
2023-24	Buffalo Sabres	1	0	0	0	-1
2024-25	Buffalo Sabres	62	15	9	24	-4
2025-26	Buffalo Sabres	12	3	2	5	-4
Career	1 team	75	18	11	29	-9