GRIT & GF
Niko Mikkola

Florida Panthers, Defence

Niko Mikkola

  • Stingy
  • Steady
Points, 2026–27
2
1 G, 1 A in 9 GP
Individual xG
0.6
1 goals from it
Ice time per game
19:46
13 shots on goal
xGF% at 5v5
57.1
share of chances while he's on

Niko Mikkola has 1 goal and 1 assist (2 points) in 9 games for the Florida Panthers in 2026–27, with 13 shots on goal and 19:46 of ice time a game. His Grit & GF rating for 2026–27 is 40.4 out of 100, provisional until he has 15 to 20 games.

9 games in. The methodology requires 15 to 20 games to be accurate, so this season's rating still leans on the league average for his position and will move.

GRIT & GF

40.4050100
Rated above 77% of defencemen
Goals above average
+0.1
Wins
+0.02
Physicality76thGF67thIntimidation71thChemistry51thClutch48th

Where the rating comes from

Weight × score in standard deviations. They sum to −0.17, which the normal curve turns into the rating.

Your weights

Under these weights he ranks above 76.7% of 223 rated players

The default weights are our call. Set your own; they get rescaled to add up to 100%.

Physicality

+0.36 SD · 76th percentile · weight 38% · −0.0 goals

What he does with his body: hits, blocks and takeaways (scaled toward per-game totals by his ice time), penalties drawn, and penalties taken against him.

  • Hitsper 60All situations, pulled toward average when the sample is small.3.054th pct
  • Blocked shotsper 60All situations.3.620th pct
  • Takeawaysper 60As recorded by the arena scorer, which varies by building.1.1283th pct
  • Penalties drawnper 60How often he gets under someone's skin enough to put his team on the power play.0.7986th pct
  • Penalties takenper 60Counts against him, at half the weight of penalties drawn.0.9233th pct
  • Ice time× position averagePer-game ice time against his position's average. Physical rates are scaled by this to the power 0.75.0.9657th pct

Percentiles are against 223 rated defencemen in 2026-27, on 145 minutes of his 5-on-5 time. Hits, blocks and takeaways count toward the rating and are worth zero goals until a study shows otherwise. Model grit-0.5.

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Game notes

Written the morning after from the night's stats, for games where he did something worth a sentence.

  1. at CBJ

    Thursday, March 5

    Drought over

    Niko Mikkola scored for the first time in 25 games. He has 2 goals this season. He played 19:24 and had two shots on goal. The Panthers fell 4-2 to the Blue Jackets.

  2. vs WPG

    Saturday, January 31

    Physical

    Niko Mikkola finished 9 checks. He has 8 points in 54 games this season. He played 21:10 and had one shot on goal. The Panthers fell 2-1 to the Jets.

  3. at CAR

    Tuesday, December 23

    Drought over

    Niko Mikkola scored for the first time in 42 games. He has 1 goal this season. He played 20:30 and had one shot on goal. It finished 5-2 for the Panthers.

Player card

Percentile among 194 defencemen with enough games this season. 50 is the median.

Scoring

  • Ice time per game19:46
    52
  • Points per 600.67
    37
  • Goals per 600.34
    69
  • Individual xG per 600.19
    49
  • Shots per 604.4
    67

5-on-5 play

  • xG for per 60, on ice2.26
    33
  • xG against per 60, on ice1.70
    95
  • xGF%57.1%
    79

Physical

  • Hits per 603.0
    57
  • Blocks per 603.0
    24
  • Penalty minutes per 602.0
    35

Skating and shooting

NHL EDGE puck and player tracking, 2026–27. Percentiles are the league's, against all skaters.

Skating

  • Top speed20.7 mph
    37
  • Bursts over 20 mph3
    41
  • Distance skated27 mi
    85

Shooting

  • Hardest shot73.2 mph
    6
  • Shots on goal13
    83
  • Shooting %7.7%
    63

Zone time

  • Offensive zone time41.4%
    51
  • Offensive zone time, even strength43.4%
    70

Who he plays with

His most-used defence partners at 5-on-5 this season, with what happened while they were out together.

PartnerGamesTOIShot attemptsxGGoalsxG share
Seth Jones9119:20123–834.5–3.25–358%
Gustav Forsling811:0012–120.3–0.80–128%
Dmitry Kulikov73:303–20.2–0.00–081%
Aaron Ekblad73:263–30.4–0.00–094%
Uvis Balinskis63:191–10.0–0.00–0100%
Radko Gudas62:164–30.1–0.00–075%

Where he shoots from

His unblocked shots this season, attacking right. 1 goals from 23 attempts.

GoalShot or miss

Last 20 games

Columns are his individual expected goals, the quality of his own chances. Dots are goals he scored.

ixGGoal
0.000.100.200.30
02-2610-17

By season

SeasonGPGAPSOGixGTOI/GPHitsBlkxGF% 5v5
2026–279112130.619:469957.1
2025–26683811683.820:211168150.0
2024–2576616221166.220:121379054.3
2023–248231417934.320:0219812752.8

Last 20 games

DateTOIGASOGixGHitsBlkPIM
2026-10-1720:121130.17110
2026-10-1520:560010.02022
2026-10-1317:250000.00102
2026-10-1219:480000.01500
2026-10-1016:530000.01000
2026-10-0618:100020.03120
2026-10-0420:170010.04020
2026-10-0122:420020.07102
2026-09-2921:320040.21020
2026-03-2017:010020.16312
2026-03-1922:310000.04210
2026-03-1518:540010.08110
2026-03-1218:290010.01630
2026-03-1017:591010.04110
2026-03-0622:540030.11430
2026-03-0519:241020.12100
2026-03-0320:040010.10010
2026-03-0123:030020.04010
2026-02-2725:290000.01020
2026-02-2621:060000.00110