Photo by Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jacob Bryson
Detroit Red Wings Defense #78
Five foot nine, three hundred and four games, and the fifty-first percentile.
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 50 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9.1 | 10:52 |
| Career | 304 | 6 | 45 | 51 | -47 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 4.0 | 15:25 |
Last Season
Two goals and six assists in 50 games — eight points, minus-nine, at 10:52 a night with ten penalty minutes. His five-on-five work was done in Winnipeg.
The Finesse Game
Minimal. Thirty-five unblocked attempts from a median of 54 feet, two goals. Fifty-one points in 304 career games.
The first pass is quick and accurate, which at his size is the only reason an NHL career exists at all.
The Physical Game
Five foot nine and 177 pounds, one of the smallest defencemen in the league. Ten penalty minutes in 50 games. He cannot clear a crease and he does not try; the defending is stick, angles and anticipation.
The Intangibles
Forty-nine point eight per cent of the expected goals, 51st percentile, in 528 minutes on a good club — dead average, which for a seventh defenceman his size is a perfectly respectable outcome and, notably, better than four of Detroit’s six regulars managed.
He is 28, a fourth-round pick, and has made 304 NHL games at five foot nine. That is the story on this page, and the numbers are the least interesting part of it.