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55BaseJake Middleton headshot

Jake

Middleton

D · CGY · Balanced · Below average

PAL
22
WAR
-0.8
Value
16
PTS
16

2025-26№ 312 / 325

Jake Middleton (Calgary Flames) stats and profile: offensive production, ice time, advanced stats, WAR and PAL rating.

Jake Middleton

#55DCalgary Flames logoCalgary Flames

HEIGHT : 191 cm · WEIGHT : 99 kg · SHOOTS : L

Born : January 1, 1996 · Wainwright, Canada

Drafted : 2014 · LAK · round 7, pick #210

Contract : $4,350,000 · 2025-26 → 2028-29 · Contract Extension · UFANMC / M-NTC

NHL record

Year Team GPGAPTSPIM
2026-27Calgary Flames1811226
2025-26Minnesota Wild752141676
2024-25Minnesota Wild678132140
2023-24Minnesota Wild807182577
2022-23Minnesota Wild793121572
2021-22Minnesota Wild2114513
2021-22San Jose Sharks4536969
2020-21San Jose Sharks10002
2019-20San Jose Sharks100229
2018-19San Jose Sharks30112
NHL totals398257196386

Playoffs

Year Team GPGAPTSPIM
2025-26Minnesota Wild110112
2024-25Minnesota Wild60222
2022-23Minnesota Wild60228
2021-22Minnesota Wild60112
Playoff totals2906614

Jake Middleton: our analysis

2025-26 season: 75 GP, 2 G, 14 A, 16 PTS, +2 +/-, 17:30 TOI. WAR -0.8 (312th of 325) · PAL 22, below average.

In 2025-26, Jake Middleton, 30, posts a PAL Rating of 22 out of 100 (below average), and his WAR of -0.8 ranks 312th among 325 regulars, in the bottom quarter.

On the other hand, penalty kill (6, among the weakest in the league) and shooting (22, well below average) hold him back.

Breaking down his WAR (goals above average), no component is positive; the costliest: EV offense (-2.4).

A marked decline: his PAL was 31 in 2024-25, against 22 now; his WAR went from -0.3 to -0.8.

Contract-wise, his Value score of 16 (very poor return) weighs his output against what he costs: 50 is what that salary should buy.

Jake Middleton's story

Growing up in Stratford, Ontario, Jake Middleton moved from local rinks into major-junior hockey before attracting NHL attention. Selected 210th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, he had previously been chosen in the 2012 OHL draft by the Owen Sound Attack and was traded to the Ottawa 67's after 14 games with Owen Sound, where he spent the bulk of his junior career.

Middleton assumed increasing responsibility with the 67's and was named captain on January 8, 2016. After that season he signed an amateur try-out with the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL on April 8, 2016 and skated in seven games there before moving to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL for 2016–17. San Jose signed him to a three-year entry-level deal on September 7, 2017.

He split time between the AHL and NHL in the following years. Reassigned to the Barracuda out of Sharks camp in September 2018, Middleton was recalled and made his NHL debut on January 5, 2019 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. His first NHL point came April 4, 2019 in a victory over Edmonton. Placed on injured reserve on October 5, 2019, he later produced career-best totals in 2021–22: his first NHL goal on November 24, 2021 versus Ottawa and season marks of 3 goals and 9 points in 45 games.

A key transaction occurred March 21, 2022, when San Jose traded Middleton and a 2022 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Wild for Kaapo Kähkönen. As a pending free agent he chose to stay in Minnesota by signing a three-year, $7.35 million extension on July 6, 2022. Internationally, Middleton was named to Team Canada for the 2023 IIHF World Championship on May 5, 2023; he recorded five assists in ten games and helped Canada win the gold medal.

A puck-moving defenceman who developed through the junior-to-AHL ladder, Middleton's game is built on steady puck retrieval, outlet passing and positional awareness—attributes that carried him from junior captaincy to a regular role in the NHL.

Jacob Middleton in action, 2019
Jacob Middleton, photo taken 2019-01-27.Photo: TheAHL · CC BY 2.0
Jacob Middleton close-up, 2019
Jacob Middleton, photo dated 2019-01-27.Photo: TheAHL · CC BY 2.0
Jacob Middleton at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2014
Jacob Middleton at the CHL / NHL Top Prospects Game, 2014-01-15.Photo: 5of7 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Jacob Middleton fight at the Top Prospects Game 2014
Aaron Haydon vs Jacob Middleton at the CHL Top Prospects Game, 2014-01-15.Photo: Sergei ~ 5of7 · CC BY-SA 2.0

Facts drawn from Wikipédia, told in our own words.

Advanced stats

TOI/GP
18:25
PP TOI/GP
0:01
SH TOI/GP
2:35
Pts/GP
0.11
EV points
1
Hits
25
Blocks
25
Takeaways
5
Corsi % (SAT)
45.3 %
Off. zone starts
30.5 %

Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)

2026-27 projection

Projected points

13between 4 and 21 (80% range)

Goals
3
Assists
10
Games
78

So far: 2 pts in 18 games. The team has played 18 of 84 games. Projected pace: 0.19 pts per game (last season: 0.21).

The projection follows last season's pace. Tested on 2,265 player seasons (2022-23 to 2025-26): average miss of 9 points over 82 games; for players at 0.9 points per game and up, it ran 5 points high on average.

Trend

Stable

  • Points per game: 0.31 in 23-24, 0.21 in 25-26
  • PAL Rating: 31 → 22

Outlook, age included

→ StableAge 30: prime years

This is only a projection. It knows nothing about injuries, trades or role changes; one player in five finishes outside the range.

Player ratings, 2025-26

All ratings →

Fourteen ratings from 0 to 100 drawn from data, never by hand: 75 = established NHL player, 95+ = elite.

OV · OverallConfidence 85 %

67

Depth

SK
Skating
69
Confidence 73 %
ST
Strength
70
Confidence 88 %
EN
Endurance
75
Confidence 80 %
DU
Durability
80
Confidence 77 %
CK
Checking
80
Confidence 88 %
FG
Fighting
91
Confidence 65 %
DI
Discipline
76
Confidence 88 %
FO
Faceoffs
—
PA
Passing
66
Confidence 85 %
SC
Scoring
74
Confidence 85 %
DF
Defense
70
Confidence 83 %
PS
Penalty shot
76
Confidence 0 %
EX
Experience
78
Confidence 100 %
Why these ratings?

SK — Skating69

  • Top speed (35 %)35.5 · 76
  • Bursts > 20 mph /60 (30 %)1.502 · 69
  • Distance /60 (20 %)13.6 · 58
  • Speed consistency (15 %)34.5 · 75

ST — Strength70

  • Contact absorbed /60 (50 %)3.253 · 58
  • Body mass (50 %)1.05 · 84

EN — Endurance75

  • Ice time per game (45 %)18.7 · 74
  • Total ice time (20 %)1,286 · 74
  • Shift length (15 %)48.9 · 79
  • Lowest recent ice time per game (15 %)17.2 · 74
  • Special-teams time per game (5 %)2.155 · 72

DU — Durability80

  • Share of games played (100 %)0.851 · 80

CK — Checking80

  • Hits /60 (70 %)4.268 · 80
  • Lowest seasonal rate (20 %)3.861 · 81
  • Season volume (10 %)4.477 · 80

FG — Fighting91

  • Fights per 82 games (100 %)2.315 · 91

DI — Discipline76

  • Net penalty value /60 (50 %)-0.037 · 76
  • Penalties taken /60 (30 %)0.72 · 70
  • Penalties drawn /60 (20 %)0.502 · 82

PA — Passing66

  • Primary assists /60 (40 %)0.351 · 74
  • Secondary assists /60 (20 %)0.315 · 62
  • Offensive creation (RAPM) (20 %)-0.125 · 58
  • Power-play points /60 (10 %)4.131 · 75
  • Assist consistency (10 %)0.248 · 76

SC — Scoring74

  • Goals /60 (25 %)0.201 · 73
  • Individual xG /60 (20 %)0.189 · 73
  • Finishing (goals − xG per shot) (20 %)0.198 · 75
  • High-danger chances /60 (15 %)0.143 · 80
  • xG per shot (10 %)0.035 · 80
  • Shot attempts /60 (10 %)8.14 · 62

DF — Defense70

  • RAPM defense /60 (35 %)-0.053 · 66
  • Relative xG against (20 %)0.059 · 70
  • On-ice xG against /60 (15 %)2.618 · 75
  • Penalty kill /60 (10 %)-0.279 · 55
  • Takeaways − giveaways /60 (10 %)-1.401 · 88
  • Shot attempts against /60 (5 %)59.4 · 68
  • Blocked shots /60 (5 %)5.778 · 89

PS — Penalty shot76

  • Shootouts (60 %)32.7 · 76
  • Penalty shots (40 %)26.7 · 76

EX — Experience78

  • Career regular-season games (65 %)84
  • Career playoff games (25 %)64
  • NHL seasons (10 %)75

OV — Overall67

  • DF · Defense (30 %)70
  • PA · Passing (22 %)66
  • SK · Skating (12 %)69
  • SC · Scoring (12 %)74
  • EN · Endurance (9 %)75
  • ST · Strength (6 %)70
  • DI · Discipline (5 %)76
  • CK · Checking (4 %)80
Season by season
SeasonOVSKSCDF
2025-2667697470
2024-2565708164
2023-2468707969
2022-2369687279

The bars show confidence (sample size), not player quality. — : not enough data, not a zero. Engine version 1.0.

WAR and PAL ratings, 2025-26

How we rate →

PAL Rating scores performance from 0 to 100 against players at the same position (50 = average player), starting from the player's strength, offensive or defensive. Value Rating compares that performance with what the player costs: 50 means paid what the play is worth.

ProfileBalancedNeither end dominates

Offense
30
Defense
35
See full details
Offense
35
Creation
39
Shooting
22
Possession
36
Defense
46
Discipline
46
Power play
53
Penalty kill
6

From 0 to 100; 50 is the average player at the same position, adjusted for ice time.

Season by season
SeasonTeamWARPALValue
2025-26MIN-0.82216
2024-25MIN-0.33127
2023-24MIN-0.73627
2022-23MIN-0.74436

Hockey IQ, 2025-26

Rankings and method →

The quality of the player's decisions with and against the puck at 5-on-5, against regulars at the same position (50 = average). PAL measures output; IQ measures how the player plays.

Overall IQ

44/ 100

Average
better than 44% of defensemen, offense and defense combined

Offensive IQ

46/ 100

Average
passing, shots, puck

Defensive IQ

40/ 100

Average
takeaways, discipline, own zone

Overall IQ isn't an average of the two scores: it's the player's rank with offense and defense combined, 125 of 225 defensemen.

See full details

Offense

Playmaking passes
65
Shot selection
55
Penalties drawn
56
Puck management
21

Defense

Takeaways
8
Discipline
36
Safe zone exits
83

Percentiles: 80 means better than 80% of regulars at the same position. Play without the puck (positioning, coverage) isn't measured: the NHL doesn't publish that data.

Season by season
SeasonTeamIQOff.Def.
2025-26MIN444640
2024-25MIN768750
2023-24MIN719328
2022-23MIN476138

Wins added to the team, compared with a replacement-level player called up from the AHL.

-0.8

wins above replacement

-1.5 to -0.2 — 90% interval

312 of 325 defensemen

-4.2 goals above replacement

Full leaderboard →
See full details
EV offense
-2.4
EV defense
-1.1
Power play
0.0
Penalty kill
-1.1
Shooting
-1.2
Penalties
-1.2
Average → replacement
+2.7

In goals.

Season by season
SeasonTeamGPWARRank
2025-26MIN75-0.8312/325
2024-25MIN67-0.3268/314
2023-24MIN80-0.7297/316
2022-23MIN79-0.7311/334

Player tracking (NHL EDGE)

League EDGE leaderboards →

Speed, shot power, distance covered, time by zone: measured by chips in the puck and shoulder pads. 90th percentile = better than 90% of players.

Season
Hardest shot
137.6 km/h37th percentileleague avg. 139.7 km/h
Top skating speed
33.4 km/h30th percentileleague avg. 34.0 km/h
Bursts over 20 mph, season
647th percentileleague avg. 8
Offensive zone time
40.0 %33rd percentileleague avg. 42.4 %
See full details
Total distance, season
69.3 km58th percentileleague avg. 56.1 km
Distance, single-game high
4.71 km37th percentileleague avg. 4.98 km
Offensive zone at 5v5
41.8 %48th percentileleague avg. 42.8 %
Neutral zone time
18.0 %46th percentileleague avg. 16.9 %
Defensive zone time
41.9 %31st percentileleague avg. 40.8 %

Shooting

Shots on goalGoalsShooting %
All1866th percentile172nd percentile5.6 %53rd percentile
High danger394th percentile198th percentile33.3 %80th percentile
Mid range366th percentile073rd percentile0.0 %50th percentile
Long range756th percentile077th percentile0.0 %67th percentile

Shots on goal by zone

Neutral zone : 0 · 82th percentileOutside left : 1 · 76th percentileOutside right : 0 · 56th percentileLeft point : 5 · 87th percentileRight point : 0 · 34th percentileCenter point : 2 · 58th percentileLeft circle : 3 · 90th percentileRight circle : 0 · 53th percentileHigh slot : 0 · 51th percentileLeft of the net : 1 · 98th percentileRight of the net : 0 · 84th percentileLow slot : 3 · 95th percentileCrease : 0 · 92th percentileLeft corner : 0 · 98th percentileBehind the net : 0 · 95th percentileRight corner : 0 · 98th percentile0105023001030000
Beyond the red line : 3

2026-2027 regular season. Measured by puck and player tracking chips; the percentile ranks the player within the league.

Game log, 2026-27

DateOpponentGAPTS+/-
Nov 8vsPhiladelphia Flyers logoPHI000+2
Nov 6vsAnaheim Ducks logoANA0000
Nov 4@Seattle Kraken logoSEA000+1
Nov 2@San Jose Sharks logoSJS000+1
Oct 31@Colorado Avalanche logoCOL000-2
Oct 30vsSeattle Kraken logoSEA000-1
Oct 28@Edmonton Oilers logoEDM000-2
Oct 26vsToronto Maple Leafs logoTOR0000
Oct 24vsDetroit Red Wings logoDET000+1
Oct 22vsMinnesota Wild logoMIN0000

Jake Middleton: frequently asked questions

How many goals does Jake Middleton have in 2026-27?

Jake Middleton has 1 goal and 2 points (1 assist) in 18 games in 2026-27.

How old is Jake Middleton?

Jake Middleton is 30 years old: he was born on January 2, 1996.

How tall is Jake Middleton, and how much does he weigh?

Jake Middleton is 6'3" (191 cm) and weighs 218 lb (99 kg).

Where is Jake Middleton from?

Canada: Jake Middleton was born in Wainwright, Alberta, Canada.

What team does Jake Middleton play for?

Jake Middleton plays for the Calgary Flames in the NHL, at D, wearing number 55.

Is Jake Middleton injured?

No: Jake Middleton is not on the latest NHL injury report. This answer is updated throughout the season.

How good is Jake Middleton?

Jake Middleton produced -0.8 wins above replacement (WAR) in 2025-26, 312th of 325 players at his position in the NHL. His PAL rating is 22 out of 100: below average for his position.

How much does Jake Middleton make?

Jake Middleton earns $4.4M for the 2025-26 season. His Value Rating is 16 out of 100 (very poor return): it measures the on-field return for that salary, compared with players at his position.

When does Jake Middleton's contract end?

Jake Middleton's contract runs through the 2028-29 season; he will then be an unrestricted free agent. It includes a NMC / M-NTC clause.

Is Jake Middleton overpaid?

Yes, his output falls short of what his salary should buy. His Value rating is 16 out of 100 (very poor return), where 50 is the output expected for his salary, compared with players at his position.

Is Jake Middleton a top-10 player at his position?

No: by WAR, he ranks 312th of 325 players at his position in the NHL in 2025-26. Our comparison tool puts him side by side with any other player.

Is Jake Middleton getting better?

No, he is slipping: his PAL rating went from 31 in 2024-25 to 22 in 2025-26 (out of 100, 50 = average player at his position).

How has Jake Middleton played lately?

Over his last 10 games, Jake Middleton has 0 points (0 goals, 0 assists).

What are Jake Middleton's career stats?

Over his NHL career, Jake Middleton has 398 games, 25 goals, 71 assists and 96 points. His best season: 2023-24, with 25 points in 80 games.

Where was Jake Middleton drafted?

Jake Middleton was drafted 210th overall (round 7) by Los Angeles Kings in 2014.

Is Jake Middleton better at home or on the road?

No real difference: in 2026-27, he averages 0.10 points per game at home (1 in 10 games) and 0.13 on the road (1 in 8 games).

How does Jake Middleton perform in the playoffs?

In the playoffs, Jake Middleton has 29 games and 6 points in his career. His pace (0.21 points per game) is similar to his regular-season pace (0.24).

Which player is most similar to Jake Middleton?

Jamie Oleksiak: he is the player at his position whose PAL profile (the 0-to-100 dimensions) is closest to his in 2025-26.

Jamie Oleksiak's page →

Is Jake Middleton a good fantasy pick?

Probably not, except in deep leagues: our projection has him at 13 points in 2026-27, or 0.17 points per game.

Does Jake Middleton have siblings?

Yes: his brother Keaton Middleton (played with him for the San Jose Barracuda (2018–2020); plays within the Colorado Avalanche organization).

Is Jake Middleton married?

Yes, married to Natalie in 2022.

What is Jake Middleton's nationality?

Jake Middleton is Canadian. Internationally: Team Canada; named to the 2023 IIHF World Championship roster; 5 assists in 10 games; gold medal (2023).

How many championships has Jake Middleton won?

1: Gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Championship with Team Canada.

What is Jake Middleton's nickname?

He is nicknamed Jake.

Where did Jake Middleton play before turning pro?

Drafted by the Owen Sound Attack in 2012 (14 games), traded to the Ottawa 67's on 7 January 2013 (named captain 8 January 2016); amateur try-out with the Manchester Monarchs (8 April 2016); San Jose Barracuda (2016–17 season)..

How many points is Jake Middleton projected to score in 2026-27?

Our projection has him at 13 points in 78 games in 2026-27 (4 to 21 points, 80% interval), based on his recent seasons, age and role.

See also: his Calgary Flames teammates

Full roster →

NHL.com ↗ · Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)