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Neal Pionk

Position	Right Defense	Current Team	Winnipeg Jets
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	6 years ($7.0M CapHit)
Height	6'0"	Expires	2030-31
Weight (lbs)	190	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	35
Age (DOB)	30 (July 29, 1995)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	Undrafted

Date	Team	Transaction
Mar 21, 2026	Winnipeg Jets	Activated from IR
Jan 14, 2026	Winnipeg Jets	Placed on IR
Apr 17, 2025	Winnipeg Jets	Signed 6 years @ $7.000M AAV starting in 2025-26
Aug 11, 2021	Winnipeg Jets	Signed 4 years @ $5.875M AAV starting in 2021-22
Jul 21, 2019	Winnipeg Jets	Signed 2 years @ $3.000M AAV starting in 2019-20
May 1, 2017	New York Rangers	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/neal-pionk-8480145.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/neal-pionk-8480145.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/neal-pionk-8480145.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
2017-18	NYR	28	0.88	1.51	-0.56	-0.79	-	2.70	-	2.40
2018-19	NYR	73	-1.03	-1.23	-0.40	-0.64	-	0.19	-	-0.55
2019-20	WPG	71	-0.30	-0.49	-0.17	-0.49	-	-0.34	-	-0.05
2020-21	WPG	54	0.31	1.13	-0.73	-0.73	-	-0.81	-	-0.21
2021-22	WPG	77	-0.35	0.45	-0.91	-1.25	-	-0.38	-0.75	0.30
2022-23	WPG	82	0.43	-0.08	0.75	0.64	-	0.20	-0.63	-0.65
2023-24	WPG	82	-0.14	-0.27	-0.15	-0.24	-	0.68	-1.06	-1.32
2024-25	WPG	69	0.71	0.67	0.18	0.61	-	-0.68	-0.41	-0.58
2025-26	WPG	51	-1.04	-0.97	-0.69	-0.13	-	-0.70	-0.82	2.39

Situational and Secondary Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	5v5 TOI	5v4 TOI	4v5 TOI	Possession	Drive	Suppress	Faceoffs
2017-18	NYR	28	0.85	-0.23	0.93	-1.91	-2.43	0.23	-
2018-19	NYR	73	-0.19	-0.10	0.88	-0.82	-0.48	0.75	-
2019-20	WPG	71	0.92	1.26	-0.89	1.05	0.93	-0.61	-
2020-21	WPG	54	0.91	0.35	-1.27	1.53	0.38	-1.62	-
2021-22	WPG	77	0.37	0.56	-0.83	-1.38	-0.48	1.85	-
2022-23	WPG	82	0.74	0.16	-0.08	-0.86	0.07	1.51	-
2023-24	WPG	82	0.13	0.09	-0.12	-1.07	-0.94	0.60	-
2024-25	WPG	69	0.57	0.00	0.31	0.55	0.35	-0.48	-
2025-26	WPG	51	0.59	0.02	1.06	-0.24	0.52	1.13	-

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.
2017-18	NYR	28	504:55	0.12	0.83	0.95	0.19	-0.08	2.70	4.42	-1.72	4.26	2.13
2018-19	NYR	73	1152:46	0.10	0.36	0.47	0.19	-0.09	1.92	3.56	-1.63	1.35	1.35
2019-20	WPG	71	1281:54	0.14	0.56	0.70	0.20	-0.06	2.59	3.73	-1.14	0.60	4.82
2020-21	WPG	54	969:36	0.06	0.87	0.93	0.15	-0.09	1.28	3.17	-1.89	0.00	0.00
2021-22	WPG	77	1311:44	0.05	0.78	0.82	0.20	-0.16	0.98	4.32	-3.34	0.65	0.65
2022-23	WPG	82	1404:39	0.26	0.73	0.98	0.19	0.06	5.56	4.20	1.36	1.21	3.03
2023-24	WPG	82	1358:15	0.18	0.71	0.88	0.19	-0.01	3.48	3.71	-0.24	1.76	1.76
2024-25	WPG	69	1233:07	0.24	0.83	1.07	0.17	0.07	4.76	3.41	1.35	0.00	1.74
2025-26	WPG	51	881:35	0.14	0.41	0.54	0.14	-0.00	3.03	3.14	-0.11	0.00	2.04

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
2017-18	NYR	28	504:55	35.65	2.14	1.96	50.15	2.14	2.81	50.00	41.11	-0.65	-0.04	-6.67
2018-19	NYR	73	1152:46	37.58	1.87	2.26	46.74	2.97	2.75	38.71	45.18	-0.23	0.08	-3.17
2019-20	WPG	71	1281:54	42.36	2.06	2.28	43.15	2.34	2.68	46.81	46.04	0.24	-0.08	3.48
2020-21	WPG	54	969:36	38.37	2.48	2.21	36.94	1.92	2.49	56.34	47.02	0.10	-0.12	2.29
2021-22	WPG	77	1311:44	41.44	2.65	2.62	47.11	2.61	2.96	50.43	46.94	-0.07	0.46	-4.93
2022-23	WPG	82	1404:39	43.14	2.39	2.73	43.87	2.65	2.85	47.46	48.96	0.02	0.52	-4.89
2023-24	WPG	82	1358:15	40.95	2.56	2.29	42.50	2.30	2.43	52.73	48.60	-0.26	0.19	-4.70
2024-25	WPG	69	1233:07	42.72	2.58	2.35	39.80	1.80	2.22	58.89	51.39	-0.11	-0.06	-0.49
2025-26	WPG	51	881:35	39.81	2.25	2.17	41.99	1.97	2.75	53.23	44.10	-0.17	0.22	-3.94

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

Jets Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Tough Decisions, Pionk Returns, Scheifele’s 100 and More at The Hockey Writers (Sun Mar 22, 2026)
Neal Pionk takes next step at Winnipeg Jets morning skate, weekend return possible at Illegal Curve Hockey (Thu Mar 19, 2026)
Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel says Neal Pionk close to return, will join road trip, provides other injury updates at Illegal Curve Hockey (Tue Mar 17, 2026)
Jets Niederreiter & Pionk Out Week-to-Week With Injuries at The Hockey Writers (Tue Feb 24, 2026)
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel indicates Nino Niederreiter and Neal Pionk are week-to-week at Illegal Curve Hockey (Tue Feb 24, 2026)
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel declares Neal Pionk ready to go for Vancouver at Illegal Curve Hockey (Sat Feb 21, 2026)
Latest from Winnipeg Jets head coach on Colin Miller, Haydn Fleury and Neal Pionk at Illegal Curve Hockey (Wed Feb 18, 2026)
Progress report from Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel on Pionk, Miller and Fleury at Illegal Curve Hockey (Wed Feb 4, 2026)
Pionk, Fleury, Miller week-to-week as Jets recall Salomonsson from Moose at Jets Nation (Wed Jan 14, 2026)
Neal Pionk not quite ready to return as Winnipeg Jets prepare for Sabres at Illegal Curve Hockey (Mon Dec 1, 2025)
Latest on Neal Pionk and Haydn Fleury from Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel at Illegal Curve Hockey (Wed Nov 26, 2025)
Pionk day-to-day, Jets recall Salomonsson from Moose at Jets Nation (Tue Nov 25, 2025)
Winnipeg Jets avoid significant injury to Neal Pionk who is listed as day-to-day at Illegal Curve Hockey (Tue Nov 25, 2025)
Jets’ Pionk Day to Day With Lower-Body Injury at The Hockey Writers (Tue Nov 25, 2025)
Jets' Neal Pionk Suffers Second Lower-Body Injury in 8 Months, Listed As Day-to-Day at Yahoo Sports NHL (Mon Nov 24, 2025)
Kyle Connor’s OT winner propels the Jets to a much needed 4-3 win in OT over the Wild at Jets Nation (Wed Oct 29, 2025)
USA Hockey invites Jets’ Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck, and Neal Pionk to 2026 Olympic orientation camp at Jets Nation (Tue Aug 19, 2025)
Goals and expectations for the newly re-signed $42 million defenceman Neal Pionk at Jets Nation (Fri Aug 15, 2025)
Top 3 most concerning things about the Winnipeg Jets’ October at Jets White Out (Tue Oct 31, 2023)
3 ways the Winnipeg Jets can effectively retool as opposed to rebuild at Jets White Out (Thu Jun 8, 2023)

Current Contract

Neal Pionk signed a $42,000,000 6-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on April 17, 2025 with an AAV of $7,000,000. This contract will start in 2025-26 and end after the 2030-31 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 7.33% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2025-26	30	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	UFA
2026-27	31	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	-	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	UFA
2027-28	32	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	-	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	UFA
2028-29	33	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	-	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	UFA
2029-30	34	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	-	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
2030-31	35	M-NTC	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	-	-	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	$5,000,000	UFA
Total					-	$4,000,000	$38,000,000	$42,000,000	$42,000,000

Signed: Apr 17, 2025

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 7.33

Clause: Player can submit a 15 team no trade list for 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-27 and a 10 team no trade list for 2028-29, 2029-30 and 2030-31.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Neal Pionk signed a $23,500,000 4-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on August 11, 2021 with an AAV of $5,875,000. This contract will start in 2021-22 and end after the 2024-25 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 7.21% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2021-22	26	$5,875,000	$5,875,000	-	-	$3,500,000	$3,500,000	$3,500,000	RFA-arb
2022-23	27	$5,875,000	$5,875,000	-	-	$6,500,000	$6,500,000	$6,500,000	RFA-arb
2023-24	28	$5,875,000	$5,875,000	-	-	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	$7,500,000	UFA
2024-25	29	$5,875,000	$5,875,000	-	-	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
Total				-	-	$23,500,000	$23,500,000	$23,500,000

Signed: Aug 11, 2021

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 7.21

Neal Pionk signed a $6,000,000 2-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on July 21, 2019 with an AAV of $3,000,000. This contract will start in 2019-20 and end after the 2020-21 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 3.68% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2019-20	24	$3,000,000	$3,000,000	-	-	$2,850,000	$2,850,000	$2,850,000	RFA-arb
2020-21	25	$3,000,000	$3,000,000	-	-	$3,150,000	$3,150,000	$3,150,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	-	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000

Signed: July 21, 2019

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Cap %: 3.68

Neal Pionk signed a $1,850,000 2-year contract with the New York Rangers and General Manager Jeff Gorton on May 1, 2017 with an AAV of $925,000. This contract will start in 2017-18 and end after the 2018-19 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.23% of the salary cap.

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2017-18	22	$925,000	$1,775,000	$850,000	$92,500	$832,500	$925,000	$70,000	ELC
2018-19	23	$925,000	$1,775,000	$850,000	$92,500	$832,500	$925,000	$70,000	ELC
Total				$1,700,000	$185,000	$1,665,000	$1,850,000	$140,000

Signed: May 1, 2017

Team: New York Rangers

GM: Jeff Gorton

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

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
2011-12	USHS-MN	Hermantown High	25	7	6	13		12				3		3	3		2
2012-13	USHL	Sioux City Musketeers	12	1	5	6	+3	2
2012-13	MNHP-17	B17 - Red (Final 54)										3	1	2	3
2012-13	USHS-MN	Hermantown High	25	14	15	29		25				3	2	3	5	+2	2
2012-13	UMHSEHL	Team North	20	1	10	11		32				3	1		1
2013-14	USHL	Sioux City Musketeers	54	2	21	23	+18	93				7		1	1		10
2013-14	WJAC-19	USA U19										4		2	2		8
2014-15	USHL	Sioux City Musketeers	53	7	41	48	+23	104				5		1	1	-4	10
2015-16	NCAA	Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth	40	4	13	17	+11	44
2016-17	NCAA	Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth	42	7	27	34	+24	25
2017-18	AHL	Hartford Wolf Pack	48	1	16	17	-9	20
2017-18	NHL	New York Rangers	28	1	13	14	-1	12	54	1.8	22:23
2017-18	WC	USA	10	2	1	3	+7	4
2018-19	NHL	New York Rangers	73	6	20	26	-16	35	132	4.6	21:10
2019-20	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	71	6	39	45	+10	32	177	3.4	23:23	4		2	2	-6		10	0.0	23:04
2020-21	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	54	3	29	32	+6	20	100	3.0	21:58	8		4	4	-2	2	17	0.0	26:00
2021-22	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	77	3	31	34	+5	46	140	2.1	21:08
2022-23	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	82	10	23	33	-12	44	142	7.0	21:56	5		7	7	-6		9	0.0	27:18
2023-24	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	82	5	28	33	+9	63	146	3.4	20:50	5		1	1	-2	4	5	0.0	21:57
2024-25	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	69	10	29	39	+21	44	123	8.1	22:04	13	1	6	7	+1	14	23	4.3	24:25
2025-26	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	51	3	9	12	+1	37	97	3.1	22:43
NHL Career			587	47	221	268	+23	333	1111	4.2	21:52	35	1	20	21	-15	20	64	1.6	24:41