This is the 2024-25 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Nico Sturm
San Jose Sharks Center
Undrafted out of Germany, 6-3, and 66 career penalty minutes in 269 games.
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | MIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.0 | 12:47 |
| 2019-20 | MIN | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 11:54 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 50 | 11 | 6 | 17 | +10 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 17.2 | 10:51 |
| 2021-22 | MIN/COL | 74 | 9 | 11 | 20 | -7 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 101 | 8.9 | 11:54 |
| 2022-23 | SJS | 74 | 14 | 12 | 26 | -13 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 119 | 11.8 | 14:44 |
| 2023-24 | SJS | 63 | 5 | 8 | 13 | -25 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 69 | 7.2 | 14:40 |
| 2024-25 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 269 | 39 | 39 | 78 | -33 | 66 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 362 | 10.8 | 13:08 |
This Season So Far
The 2024-25 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
63 games, 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points, 1 shorthanded, 12 penalty minutes, 14:40 a night and minus-25. He took 39.3 per cent of the expected goals at five-on-five over 759 minutes, the 9th percentile, and his ice went 22-42 against an expectation of 24.12-37.21.
Two goals of finishing below what the chances were worth and five more conceded than they called for. Twenty-two goals for in 759 minutes is the fourth-line assignment on a club that lost by three goals a night.
The Finesse Game
98 attempts at a median of 22 feet with 43 per cent of them from inside twenty, 65 of those on goal, converted at 7.3 per cent against a career 10.77 across 362 shots.
Thirty-nine career goals and 39 assists in 269 games. He gets to the net front and finishes there when the puck arrives; there is no puck-carrying in his game and the passing is a simple support option rather than a play.
The Physical Game
He is 6-3 and 209 and took 12 penalty minutes.
Sixty-six career penalty minutes in 269 games is a very low total for a large checking centre. He forechecks with the frame and wins the wall on the defensive-zone breakout, and he does it without reaching, which is why the penalties never come.
The Intangibles
Undrafted, six seasons, three organisations, and 78 points in 269 games.
Three career shorthanded goals and a career minus-33. He came out of Germany undrafted, reached the league at 23, and has held a fourth-line job on three clubs for six seasons.
The numbers underneath
On the ice
Five-on-five, 2023-24 · 759 minutes
- Expected goals
- 39.3%
- 4th pct
- Shot attempts
- 44.2%
- 14th pct
share of the chances while he was out there
share of the attempts while he was out there
Goals while he was on the ice: 22 for, 42 against. Expected: 24.1 and 37.2.
The eye and the numbers
HindsightThe report ranks him 53 points above where the numbers do. It was written for a back edition, with the seasons that followed already known. Neither the agreement nor the gap says anything about the eye, and this report is excluded from the club-level comparison for the same reason. Why the numbers land there sets out the club he did it on, the minutes he played and the men he played them with.
Both bars are percentiles among the 652 skaters in this edition with a report and enough ice time. The report bar ranks the mean of the grades above — 71 on their own scale — against every other report's mean. The numbers bar ranks his share of expected goals. A gap is a disagreement about where he belongs, not two scales talking past each other.
Usual linemates
2023-24 · 759 minutes at five-on-five
- Mike Hoffmanoff the roster24%
- Justin Baileyoff the roster22%
- Filip Zadinaoff the roster20%
Share of his five-on-five ice time spent alongside each player, measured from shift charts. Special teams are excluded: a power-play unit is not a line.
Why the numbers land there
Five-on-five, 2023-24
- The club
- SJS took 40.8% of the expected goals as a club. His own share is 39.3% — 1.5 below the club he did it on.
- The role
- Fourth line, 759 minutes at five-on-five — 35th percentile in ice time.
With and without
| Teammate | Together | Him apart | Mate apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Ferraro | 39.2% | 39.4% | 44.2% |
| Kyle Burroughs | 41.9% | 38.0% | 44.4% |
| Jan Rutta | 33.6% | 41.3% | 39.0% |
39.2% together, 39.4% for him apart and 44.2% for Ferraro apart. Ferraro was better away from him while his own share held, which is a mark against him more than for him.
Expected-goal share while both were on the ice, and for each man in the minutes he played without the other. Apart is the pair subtracted from his own totals. It does not settle who was carrying whom — apart from each other, both were still playing with somebody — but it does say whether the share travelled when the pairing broke up.
Where he shoots from
goal on goal missed
98 unblocked shots in 2023-24, 5 of them goals. His median goal came from 9 feet. 45% of his shots came from inside twenty feet, 24% from beyond forty.