Points by season
Career NHL points, ending with the 84-game projection (violet).
Pool value
Projected full-season fantasy worth.
why 22?
Each row is one fantasy category turned into points over a full 84-game season. Add the rows up and that is his total fantasy worth.
- proj goals2 × 3+6
- proj assists14 × 1+14
- PP points0 × 0.5+0
- game-winning goals0 × 0.5+0
- OT goals0 × 0.25+0
- shots58 × 0.1+5.8
- PIM26 × 0.05+1.3
- ice time (min)1028 × 0.01+10.3
- total37 pool points · an elite defenseman season scores 16637 = 22/100
Weights follow what the average fantasy league actually counts: goals at 3× assists (the universal core), power-play points and game-winners at half weight (common extra categories), OT goals, shots and PIM small (many leagues skip them), and ice time as a quiet availability bonus. The scale: add up a whole season of those categories and compare against the best defensemen in the NHL — an elite season scores about 166 points, and that is what 100 means. So 37 points is 22 out of a perfect fantasy season at his position. Defensemen and forwards are graded on separate scales because the D slot can only be filled by a defenseman. Goals and assists come from the backtested season model; the rest ride your own season-to-date pace over 84 games (16 games so far — small sample, secondary lines will move as roles settle). Hits/blocks are excluded: the free NHL feeds don't publish full-season totals, and we don't invent them.
The Situation
- Minutes are shrinking: 11:27/game over the last 6, down 16% from 13:35 earlier in the season.
- Did not play the last 1 game (healthy scratch or injury — check the club report before rostering).
- Availability: played 12 of 15 for BUF — missed 3 games (2026-10-24, 2026-10-29, 2026-11-12).
- Ironman warning: multiple absences already — treat nightly projections for this player as low-confidence.
- Not on the NHL Status Report — recent absences were healthy scratches or coach's decisions unless a wire note says otherwise.
Every line is measured from our own boxscore ledger; absence reasons from the NHL Status Report and our transaction wire only — no insider guessing.
Season stats
NHL regular-season totals, season by season. The 84-G proj line extends the current season with our public model — methodology in the caption below the table.
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | PPP | SHG | TOI/GP | GWG | OTG | S | S% | FOW% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Sabres | 43 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10:58 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 8.3% | 0.0% |
| 2026-27 | Sabres | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:15 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 84-G proj | Sabres | 84 | 2 | 14 | 16 | — | 36 | — | 0 | — | 15:10 | — | — | 78 | — | — |
84-G proj — current pace blended with the player's own history (recent seasons weighted heaviest), mixed with a similarity projection from historical players with comparable profiles, then adjusted for the aging curve (league-average peak at 27; decline after) — at age 28 that is -1%. Dashes mark stats the model doesn't project.
Goals — with the line
Lines shown for the 9 of 10 recent games inside the league's tracking archive.
| Time | ST | Type | Goal | His line | Opp ice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15 · @ TOR | |||||
| P1 03:35 | EV | Assist | Quinn (Benson, #?) → 1-1 | Norris · McLeod · Quinn · Ostlund · Benson · Helenius Gilbert · Crevier | Tavares · Paul · Marchenko Ekman-Larsson · Rielly · Stecher · Blankenburg Bobrovsky (G) |
Line mates
Teammates sharing the most ice time with Zach over the last 10 games — reconstructed shift-by-shift from the NHL's official timing feed (goalies excluded).
| Player | Shared min | GP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Power BUF | 57 | 10 | |
| Zach Benson BUF | 40 | 10 | |
| Noah Ostlund BUF | 37 | 10 | |
| Tage Thompson BUF | 35 | 10 | |
| Peyton Krebs BUF | 33 | 10 |
Data via the public NHL API · 2026 Pro Hockey Stats