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Erik Cernak

Position	Right Defense	Current Team	Tampa Bay Lightning
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	8 years ($5.2M CapHit)
Height	6'4"	Expires	2030-31
Weight (lbs)	230	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	34
Age (DOB)	28 (May 28, 1997)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2015, Round 2, Overall 43 (LAK)

Date	Team	Transaction
Dec 31, 2025	Tampa Bay Lightning	Activated from LTIR
Jul 13, 2022	Tampa Bay Lightning	Signed 8 years @ $5.200M AAV starting in 2023-24
Dec 22, 2020	Tampa Bay Lightning	Signed 3 years @ $2.950M AAV starting in 2020-21
Jul 14, 2015	Los Angeles Kings	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/erik-cernak-8478416.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/erik-cernak-8478416.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/erik-cernak-8478416.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 punk. 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
Shooting and Skating (except Sh%AE) are 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	TBL	58	-0.11	-0.06	-0.21	0.34	-	-1.03	-	0.58
2019-20	TBL	67	-0.64	-0.79	-0.15	0.19	-	-0.88	-	-0.55
2020-21	TBL	46	1.25	0.09	1.99	1.09	-	1.54	-	-1.08
2021-22	TBL	55	-0.01	0.69	-0.80	-0.99	-	-0.17	0.05	-1.55
2022-23	TBL	70	-0.70	-0.52	-0.78	-1.17	-	0.68	-0.32	-1.01
2023-24	TBL	69	-0.96	-0.93	-0.66	0.28	-	2.04	-0.54	0.89
2024-25	TBL	76	-1.00	-0.75	-0.78	-0.64	-	0.89	-0.12	0.89
2025-26	TBL	61	-0.76	-0.92	-0.23	0.32	-	-0.70	0.16	-1.07

Situational and Secondary Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	5v5 TOI	5v4 TOI	4v5 TOI	Possession	Drive	Suppress	Faceoffs
2018-19	TBL	58	-0.13	-1.66	0.42	0.32	-0.41	-0.93	-
2019-20	TBL	67	-0.34	-1.64	0.91	-0.35	-0.63	-0.12	-
2020-21	TBL	46	0.14	-1.45	0.72	0.65	0.29	-0.51	-
2021-22	TBL	55	-0.19	-1.45	0.79	1.14	0.35	-1.44	-
2022-23	TBL	70	-0.14	-1.34	1.29	-0.04	-1.03	-1.04	-
2023-24	TBL	69	-0.26	-1.44	1.13	-1.22	-1.41	0.11	-
2024-25	TBL	76	-0.68	-1.47	1.04	-0.64	-0.92	-0.08	-
2025-26	TBL	61	-0.91	-1.47	0.92	-1.53	-2.47	-0.43	-

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 punk. 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
Shooting and Skating (except Sh%AE) are 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	TBL	58	906:53	0.26	0.73	0.99	0.23	0.03	3.92	3.47	0.45	0.00	0.76
2019-20	TBL	67	985:27	0.24	0.43	0.67	0.22	0.03	3.70	3.31	0.40	0.00	3.50
2020-21	TBL	46	712:31	0.42	0.76	1.18	0.26	0.16	6.58	4.10	2.48	2.83	1.89
2021-22	TBL	55	848:26	0.07	0.85	0.92	0.22	-0.15	1.28	3.98	-2.70	0.85	1.69
2022-23	TBL	70	1085:06	0.06	0.61	0.66	0.20	-0.14	1.19	4.28	-3.09	1.74	1.74
2023-24	TBL	69	1066:20	0.11	0.51	0.62	0.09	0.03	4.65	3.57	1.08	3.12	1.56
2024-25	TBL	76	1143:20	0.10	0.47	0.58	0.15	-0.05	3.45	4.98	-1.53	1.01	1.01
2025-26	TBL	61	875:15	0.21	0.48	0.69	0.16	0.04	6.00	4.76	1.24	0.00	1.33

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	TBL	58	906:53	43.07	3.57	2.70	39.56	2.25	2.31	61.36	53.91	0.05	-0.21	2.64
2019-20	TBL	67	985:27	40.85	2.56	2.27	39.70	2.31	2.18	52.50	51.04	-0.29	0.06	-3.69
2020-21	TBL	46	712:31	40.93	2.69	2.44	35.28	2.53	2.02	51.61	54.69	0.03	-0.23	3.00
2021-22	TBL	55	848:26	42.93	2.69	2.72	37.69	2.62	2.47	50.67	52.50	-0.07	-0.19	1.25
2022-23	TBL	70	1085:06	41.14	2.49	2.81	38.15	2.49	2.56	50.00	52.30	-0.09	-0.06	-0.28
2023-24	TBL	69	1066:20	35.56	2.53	2.22	40.68	2.70	2.51	48.39	47.01	-0.25	0.16	-4.27
2024-25	TBL	76	1143:20	38.10	2.47	2.34	40.51	1.78	2.38	58.02	49.56	-0.21	-0.06	-1.51
2025-26	TBL	61	875:15	34.82	2.47	2.37	36.54	2.81	2.18	46.75	52.18	-0.57	-0.14	-3.81

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 Defense Pairs

Season

Season	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

Who is in, who is out on the defense for the Tampa Bay Lightning at Raw Charge (Sun Apr 19, 2026)
Cernak scores on crazy carom late in 3rd period as the Wild beat the Lightning 6-3 at Yahoo Sports NHL (Tue Mar 24, 2026)
Lightning Morning News: Lightning moves indicate Erik Cernak is ready to go at Raw Charge (Sat Mar 14, 2026)
Lightning Morning News: Erik Cernak is the latest member to pick up an injury at Raw Charge (Mon Mar 9, 2026)
Martin Feverhary after Tkachuk brothers’ fracas with Erik Cernak spills into hallway near locker rooms: ‘Everyone knows what they are like’ at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sat Feb 21, 2026)
Martin Feverhary after Tkachuk brothers’ fracas with Erik Cernak spills into hallway near locker rooms: ‘Everyone knows what they are like’ at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sat Feb 21, 2026)
Lightning Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Olympic Break Edition at The Hockey Writers (Mon Feb 9, 2026)
Decisions will have to be made when healthy players return at Raw Charge (Tue Jan 6, 2026)

Current Contract

Erik Cernak signed an $41,600,000 8-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and General Manager Julien Brisebois on July 13, 2022 with an AAV of $5,200,000. This contract will start in 2023-24 and end after the 2030-31 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 6.23% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2023-24	26		$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$5,500,000	$1,260,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	RFA-arb
2024-25	27	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$4,500,000	$2,260,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	UFA
2025-26	28	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	-	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	$6,760,000	UFA
2026-27	29	NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	-	$5,096,000	$5,096,000	$5,096,000	UFA
2027-28	30	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2028-29	31	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2029-30	32	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
2030-31	33	M-NTC	$5,200,000	$5,200,000	-	$1,000,000	$3,056,000	$4,056,000	$4,056,000	UFA
Total					-	$14,000,000	$27,600,000	$41,600,000	$41,600,000

Signed: July 13, 2022

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

GM: Julien Brisebois

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 6.23

Clause: Starting June 15, 2027 player submits a list of 16 teams he'd accept a trade to.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Erik Cernak signed a $8,850,000 3-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and General Manager Julien Brisebois on December 22, 2020 with an AAV of $2,950,000. This contract will start in 2020-21 and end after the 2022-23 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 3.62% 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	23	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	$700,000	$775,000	$1,475,000	$1,475,000	RFA
2021-22	24	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	$1,000,000	$1,950,000	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	RFA-arb
2022-23	25	$2,950,000	$2,950,000	-	-	$4,425,000	$4,425,000	$4,425,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	$1,700,000	$7,150,000	$8,850,000	$8,850,000

Signed: Dec 22, 2020

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

GM: Julien Brisebois

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Cap %: 3.62

Erik Cernak signed a $2,277,500 3-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings and General Manager Dean Lombardi on July 14, 2015 with an AAV of $732,500. 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 1.00% 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	19	$732,500	$925,000	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2017-18	20	$708,333	$900,833	-	$92,500	-	$92,500	-	ELC
2018-19	21	$697,500	$890,000	$227,500	$92,500	$650,000	$742,500	$70,000	ELC
2019-20	22	$697,500	$890,000	$202,500	-	$650,000	$650,000	$70,000	ELC
2020-21	23	$697,500	$890,000	$147,500	-	$700,000	$700,000	$70,000	ELC
Total				$577,500	$277,500	$2,000,000	$2,277,500	$210,000

Signed: July 14, 2015

Team: Los Angeles Kings

GM: Dean Lombardi

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

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
2009-10	QC Int PW	Slovakia K&B Stars	4	0	1	1		4
2011-12	Svk-U18	Kosice U18	37	5	4	9		61
2012-13	Slovak-2	Slovakia U20 B	8	2	0	2		18
2012-13	Slovak-Jr.	Bratislava Jr.	30	4	6	10		18				12		1	1		8
2012-13	Svk-U18	Bratislava U18										1		2	2
2013-14	Slovakia	Slovakia U20	20	2	1	3		2
2013-14	Slovak-Jr.	Kosice Jr.	8	1	3	4		16
2013-14	Slovakia	Kosice	13	0	0	0						7					2
2014-15	Slovakia	Kosice	43	5	8	13		16				7		1	1		6
2015-16	WJ18-A	Slovakia	5	0	0	0	-2		1
2015-16	WJC-20	Slovakia U20	4	0	0	0	+1	2
2015-16	OHL	Erie	41	4	11	15	+7	35	76	530.0		13		6	6	+4	10	27	0.0
2016-17	M-Cup	Erie Otters	5	0	2	2		2
2016-17	WJC-20	Slovakia U20	5	0	1	1	-3	2
2016-17	OHL	Erie Otters	50	3	18	21	+31	53				22	1	8	9	+17	10
2017-18	AHL	Syracuse Crunch	71	5	13	18	+30	70				7	1	1	2		4
2018-19	AHL	Syracuse Crunch	9	2	5	7	-1	14
2018-19	WC	Slovakia	7	3	2	5	+3	8
2018-19	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	58	5	11	16	+25	58	107	4.7	19:15	4		3	3	-2		7	0.0	21:29
2019-20	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	67	5	7	12	+11	59	125	4.0	18:57	25		4	4	+2	12	32	0.0	20:43
2020-21	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	46	5	13	18	+8	38	85	5.9	19:47	21	1	9	10	+12	16	36	2.8	19:57
2021-22	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	55	1	12	13	+7	46	86	1.2	19:09	23	1	1	2	+1	12	22	4.5	19:20
2022-23	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	2	14	16	+8	53	87	2.3	19:14	1					2	1	0.0	9:27
2023-24	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	69	2	11	13	+5	63	53	3.8	19:11	5		1	1		2	2	0.0	20:39
2024-25	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	76	3	18	21	+29	50	64	4.7	18:16	5	1		1	+1	4	14	7.1	17:56
2025-26	OG	Slovakia	6	0	1	1	-1	14	5	0.0	19:30
2025-26	NHL	Tampa Bay Lightning	61	3	8	11	+3	74	53	5.7	17:37	7		1	1	+2	2	6	0.0	19:28
NHL Career			502	26	94	120	+96	441	660	3.9	18:53	91	3	19	22	+16	50	120	2.5	19:51