Schaefer's $19.1M Is a Guess. The Cap Math Backs It.
The number has one author and no sourcing. Run it through the only comparison that survives a change of cap year and it still clears every defenseman on record.
The number has one author and no sourcing. Run it through the only comparison that survives a change of cap year and it still clears every defenseman on record.
Final 2025-26 regular season · source NHL, data as of 2026-09-28. Goals per game exclude shootout deciders. Standings · All 32 teams
Computed by Play-Pause Hockey from the league play-by-play, 2025-26, 1312 regular-season games. Where a rank is shown it is among the 32 clubs, 1st = best. PDO and zone starts carry none: a high PDO means hot rather than good, and zone starts are how a club is deployed rather than how well it plays. All 32 teams
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 81 | 19 | 53 | 72 |
| | 82 | 23 | 36 | 59 |
| | 68 | 31 | 26 | 57 |
| | 82 | 19 | 23 | 42 |
| | 79 | 19 | 22 | 41 |
| | 80 | 18 | 21 | 39 |
| | 74 | 17 | 18 | 35 |
| | 76 | 5 | 30 | 35 |
| | 82 | 22 | 9 | 31 |
| | 65 | 13 | 17 | 30 |
| | 62 | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| | 76 | 3 | 24 | 27 |
| | 81 | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| | 25 | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| | 44 | 5 | 13 | 18 |
| | 82 | 4 | 12 | 16 |
| | 80 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| | 80 | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| | 76 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| | 59 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| | 49 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| | 28 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goalie | GP | W | L | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 55 | 29 | 24 | .906 | 2.68 |
| | 30 | 14 | 10 | .894 | 2.76 |
| | 1 | 0 | 0 | .714 | 8.90 |
Puck and player tracking, 2025-26 regular season · source NHL EDGE. Ranks are among the 32 clubs, 1st = best; defensive-zone time ranks the least time first. All 32 teams