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Esa Lindell

Position	Left Defense	Current Team	Dallas Stars
Shoots	Left	Current Contract	5 years
Height	6'3"	Expires	2029-30
Weight (lbs)	217	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	36
Age	31 (May 23, 1994)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2012, Round 3, Overall 74 (DAL)

Date	Team	Transaction
Sep 17, 2024	Dallas Stars	Signed 5 years @ $5.250M AAV starting in 2025-26
May 16, 2019	Dallas Stars	Signed 6 years @ $5.800M AAV starting in 2019-20
Jun 26, 2017	Dallas Stars	Signed 2 years @ $2.200M AAV starting in 2017-18
May 26, 2014	Dallas Stars	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

2025-26 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/esa-lindell-8476902.png

2024-25 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/esa-lindell-8476902.png

2023-24 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/esa-lindell-8476902.png

About Player Cards

Player cards present an infographic of a players performance. In this case it shows the player performance over a 3 season span. Each square is separated into three separate sub-boxes with the two smaller boxes on top representing the past two seasons and the larger box on the bottom representing the current or most recent season. This allows the reader to guage how consistent a player has been, and if early in the season it can help identify whether a players performance may be impacted by small sample size and subject to regression or is consistent with recent past performance.

Notes and Definitions

The numbers represent percentiles so the higher the better.
Percentiles are determined by comparing Forwards to Forwards and Defensemen to Defensemen.
Bursts/mi are calculated from NHL Edge Data are are speed bursts above 20mpg per mile skated. The NHL doesn't adjust for ice time so the players that skate more will naturally have more bursts over 20, or at least more opportunity to have more. The NHL also does not provide ice time in the context of NHL Edge Statistics, however, it does provide distance skated. By adjusting for distance skated it will have a similar effect to adjusting for ice time but also adjust for situationional effect. For example, Players don't typically skate as much on the PK, mostly within the defensive zone, so don't get significant opportunity in that ice time to get speed bursts above 20mph. Adjusting with miles skates would account for this better than adjusting with ice time.
Sh%AE is Shooting Percentage above Expected (Sh% - xSh%) and is an indicator of how good a shooter is at converting chances into goals.
Relative statistics are On Ice - Off Ice statistics and can be an indicator of whether the player makes his teammates better or worse.
All data is 5v5 except Shooting Hardest and Average, Skating Top Speed and Bursts/mi which are all situations, ES Average which is even strength (NHL doesn't give a specific definition).

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

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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.
2015-16	DAL	4	53:28	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.12	-0.12	0.00	5.34	-5.34	0.00	0.00
2016-17	DAL	73	1272:33	0.24	0.42	0.66	0.15	0.09	6.41	4.01	2.40	0.88	3.54
2017-18	DAL	80	1383:12	0.13	0.52	0.65	0.17	-0.04	3.12	4.19	-1.07	3.15	4.72
2018-19	DAL	82	1526:39	0.16	0.55	0.71	0.17	-0.01	4.12	4.45	-0.33	0.74	2.96
2019-20	DAL	69	1168:00	0.05	0.46	0.51	0.13	-0.08	1.45	3.77	-2.32	0.00	2.25
2020-21	DAL	56	1018:51	0.18	0.47	0.65	0.18	0.00	4.00	3.99	0.01	1.89	2.83
2021-22	DAL	76	1350:28	0.13	0.53	0.67	0.15	-0.02	2.70	3.13	-0.42	0.00	1.56
2022-23	DAL	82	1281:34	0.23	0.61	0.84	0.18	0.06	5.38	4.10	1.28	0.00	3.23
2023-24	DAL	82	1313:29	0.18	0.82	1.00	0.23	-0.04	4.12	5.13	-1.01	2.13	4.26
2024-25	DAL	80	1400:06	0.13	0.60	0.73	0.16	-0.04	3.66	4.67	-1.02	1.59	2.38
2025-26	DAL	10	166:05	0.36	0.72	1.08	0.10	0.26	12.50	3.40	9.10	0.00	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
2015-16	DAL	4	53:28	40.40	1.12	2.85	38.15	4.49	2.68	20.00	51.54	-0.85	0.88	-15.69
2016-17	DAL	73	1272:33	39.94	2.31	2.40	42.76	2.03	2.62	53.26	47.90	-0.22	0.19	-4.15
2017-18	DAL	80	1383:12	43.85	2.56	2.72	41.04	2.08	2.34	55.14	53.83	0.45	0.21	2.20
2018-19	DAL	82	1526:39	35.61	1.97	2.11	44.76	1.97	2.46	50.00	46.13	-0.52	0.17	-7.29
2019-20	DAL	69	1168:00	38.22	2.31	2.51	43.77	2.41	2.52	48.91	49.89	0.04	0.34	-3.25
2020-21	DAL	56	1018:51	39.22	2.41	2.14	37.10	2.06	2.07	53.95	50.87	-0.26	0.07	-3.69
2021-22	DAL	76	1350:28	37.68	2.22	2.36	41.99	2.31	2.39	49.02	49.70	-0.36	-0.16	-1.92
2022-23	DAL	82	1281:34	39.00	2.53	2.53	42.18	2.11	2.45	54.55	50.82	-0.18	0.09	-2.68
2023-24	DAL	82	1313:29	44.22	2.79	2.71	41.39	2.51	2.26	52.59	54.50	0.02	0.08	-0.75
2024-25	DAL	80	1400:06	38.70	2.74	2.35	44.61	1.93	2.42	58.72	49.21	-0.19	-0.06	-1.40
2025-26	DAL	10	166:05	42.99	2.17	2.64	36.85	1.45	1.82	60.00	59.18	0.71	-0.47	13.48

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

NHL Notebook: Stars and Mammoth sign core players to eight-year extensions at Oilers Nation (Wed Oct 29, 2025)
Wild stumble early, rally late, but fall short in Dallas at Gone Puck Wild (Wed Oct 15, 2025)
Oettinger Stops 39, Stars Beat Wild 5-2 in Home Opener at The Hockey Writers (Wed Oct 15, 2025)
Dallas Stars suppressed the Minnesota Wild's hot offense at the AAC tonight at Blackout Dallas (Wed Oct 15, 2025)
Bold Predictions for the 2025-26 Dallas Stars Season at Defending Big D (Thu Oct 9, 2025)
Dallas Stars 2025-26 Defense Preview at The Hockey Writers (Mon Oct 6, 2025)
NHL season preview: Strengths, weaknesses, X factors for all 32 teams at ESPN (Mon Oct 6, 2025)
Sights and sounds from day 1 of Dallas Stars Training Camp at Blackout Dallas (Thu Sep 18, 2025)
The pros and cons of the Dallas Stars in NHL 26 at Blackout Dallas (Thu Sep 11, 2025)
Dallas is becoming everything Blues fans hope their team would be at Bleedin' Blue (Fri Sep 5, 2025)

Current Contract

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2025-26	31	M-NTC	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	-	$2,500,000	$4,000,000	$6,500,000	$6,250,000	UFA
2026-27	32	M-NTC	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	-	$2,500,000	$4,000,000	$6,500,000	$6,250,000	UFA
2027-28	33	M-NTC	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	-	$1,000,000	$4,250,000	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	UFA
2028-29	34	M-NTC	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	UFA
2029-30	35	M-NTC	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	UFA
Total					-	$6,000,000	$20,250,000	$26,250,000	$25,750,000

Signed: Sep 17, 2024

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 5.5

Clause: Full no trade clauses for 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28. For 2028-29 and 2029-30 player can submit a 20 team no trade list.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2019-20	25		$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	$1,000,000	$6,000,000	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	RFA-arb
2020-21	26		$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	-	$4,800,000	$4,800,000	$4,800,000	RFA-arb
2021-22	27	NMC	$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	$2,000,000	$5,000,000	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	UFA
2022-23	28	NMC	$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	$1,000,000	$5,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
2023-24	29	NMC	$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	-	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	UFA
2024-25	30	NMC	$5,800,000	$5,800,000	-	-	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	UFA
Total					-	$4,000,000	$30,800,000	$34,800,000	$34,800,000

Signed: May 16, 2019

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 7.12

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2017-18	23	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	-	-	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	RFA
2018-19	24	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	-	-	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	$2,200,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	-	$4,400,000	$4,400,000	$4,400,000

Signed: June 26, 2017

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Cap %: 2.93

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2014-15	20	$745,833	$925,000	$257,500	$92,500	$575,000	$667,500	$60,000	ELC
2015-16	21	$745,833	$925,000	$157,500	$92,500	$675,000	$767,500	$67,500	ELC
2016-17	22	$745,833	$925,000	$122,500	$92,500	$710,000	$802,500	$70,000	ELC
Total				$537,500	$277,500	$1,960,000	$2,237,500	$197,500

Signed: May 26, 2014

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Jim Nill

Exp. Status: RFA

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
2008-09	Jr. C SM-sarja	Jokerit U16	8	0	3	3		2
2008-09	U16 SM-sarja	Jokerit U16										8		1	1
2009-10	Fin-U18	Jokerit U18	3	0	1	1		2
2009-10	U16 SM-sarja	Jokerit U16										13	1	2	3		8
2010-11	Fin-U18	Jokerit U18	14	5	7	12		10				4		1	1		4
2010-11	Fin-Jr.	Jokerit Jr.										3	1	1	2		2
2011-12	WJ18-A	Finland	7	0	6	6	+4	2
2011-12	Finland-2	K-Vantaa	2	0	0	0
2011-12	Fin-Jr.	Jokerit Jr.	48	21	30	51		16				11	2	5	7		6
2012-13	Finland-2	K-Vantaa	22	4	6	10		16
2012-13	Finland	Jokerit	19	0	0	0		4
2012-13	Fin-Jr.	Jokerit Jr.	11	5	4	9		6
2013-14	Finland-2	K-Vantaa	11	2	3	5		8
2013-14	WJC-A	Czech Republic	7	2	3	5	+6	6	16
2013-14	Finland	Jokerit	44	2	3	5		10				2
2014-15	WC-A	Finland	8	1	5	6	+5		26
2014-15	AHL	Texas	5	0	1	1		2	6	0.0
2014-15	Finland	Assat	57	14	21	35		28				2
2015-16	WC-A	Finland	10	1	3	4	+6		17	590.0
2015-16	NHL	Dallas Stars	4	0	0	0	-3		2	0.0	14:03
2015-16	AHL	Texas	73	14	28	42	+6	56	128	1,090.0		4	2	2	4	+2		6	3,330.0
2016-17	NHL	Dallas Stars	73	6	12	18	+8	22	99	6.1	21:52
2016-17	AHL	Texas Stars	2	0	1	1	+3
2016-17	WCup	Finland	1	0	0	0	-1
2017-18	NHL	Dallas Stars	80	7	20	27	+19	24	137	5.1	22:05
2018-19	NHL	Dallas Stars	82	11	21	32	+14	33	132	8.3	24:20	13	1	3	4	+4	4	15	6.7	26:58
2019-20	NHL	Dallas Stars	69	3	20	23	+5	12	98	3.1	23:25	27	1	7	8	-12	2	41	2.4	24:44
2020-21	NHL	Dallas Stars	56	5	11	16	+11	19	100	5.0	23:11
2021-22	WC	Finland	6	0	1	1	-1	2
2021-22	NHL	Dallas Stars	76	4	21	25	+4	12	136	2.9	22:03	7		2	2			17	0.0	23:15
2022-23	NHL	Dallas Stars	82	8	16	24	+29	10	116	6.9	19:55	19		3	3	-10	8	28	0.0	20:50
2023-24	NHL	Dallas Stars	82	5	21	26	+17	12	114	4.4	20:28	19	3	2	5	+2	4	23	13.0	24:45
2024-25	4 Nations	Finland	3	1	0	1	-2		2	50.0	80:12
2024-25	NHL	Dallas Stars	80	5	21	26	+34	14	99	5.1	22:11	18	1	1	2	-3	4	18	5.6	23:32
2025-26	NHL	Dallas Stars	9	1	3	4	+4	2	9	11.1	22:31
NHL Career			693	55	166	221	+142	160	1042	5.3	22:04	103	6	18	24	-19	22	142	4.2	23:59