D · FLA · NHL id 8478859
Niko Mikkola has played 2 games for the Florida Panthers in 2026-27, scoring 0 goals and 0 assists (0 points) on 6 shots while averaging 22:07 a night (18:56 at even strength, 0:06 on the power play and 3:06 shorthanded). At 5v5 he has skated 82% of his 5v5 minutes with Seth Jones and 37% with Carter Verhaeghe over the last 2 games, and the Panthers have controlled 55% of shot attempts with Mikkola on the ice (0-0 in goals, 71% offensive-zone starts). In the Panthers' most recent game against SJS he was on D1 with Seth Jones and off the power play. He is shooting 0.0% this season against 4.5% across the 467 games in our data.
Right now
From the Oct 1 game vs SJS, detected from shift data
- Moved from D2 to D1
- +1:14 TOI a game
- 36% of 5v5 TOI with Bennett (was 29%)
Deployment timeline
2026-27 · per-game ice time by strength, with line and power-play unit changes
Usage: 2 games, 22:07 average time on ice, PP1 in 0 games, 0 line changes.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- 5-game average
- Did not play
- ▲ promoted · ▼ demoted
NHL EDGE tracking
2025-26 percentiles among skaters at his position
Only 2 GP in 2026-27; showing 2025-26 NHL EDGE data.
Season-level NHL EDGE puck and player tracking, refreshed nightly. The percentile is the league rank among skaters this season; the label at the right is the raw value.
Shot map
2026-27 · 12 attempts, 6 on goal, 0 goals
Shot map, OPP at FLA: 12 attempts, 6 on goal, 0 goals, 0.23 expected goals; best chance Niko Mikkola at 0.16 xG.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- Goal
- Shot on goal
- Missed
- Blocked
Luck
2025-26 · 68 GP · 11 points vs 14.3 expected
Last 20 games: -2. Positive means running hot (sell), negative running cold (buy).
- 4.4%
- 98.2
- 22.4%
- G vs xG
- 3 / 3.3
- • Role shrank over the last 10 games (2 demotion events): the cold spell may not be all luck.
- Actual goals
- Expected
- ±1σ
- Above expected
- Below expected
Player analytics
Compare with another player →2025-26 regular season. Rank is among all qualified players; the bar is his percentile among defencemen. Each stat links to its explainer.
- 2026-27 so far: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PPP, 6 SOG.
Fantasy box score
- Games played68
- Goals3525th of 715
- Assists8513th of 715
- Points11548th of 715
- Power-play points0437th of 715
- Shorthanded points0227th of 715
- Shots on goal68452nd of 715
- Hits116133rd of 715
- Blocked shots81137th of 715
- Plus/minus−1343rd of 715
- Penalty minutes47125th of 715
- Faceoffs won0451st of 715
Possession & shot quality (5-on-5 on-ice)
- Corsi (CF%)51.7%201st of 719
- Fenwick (FF%)51.0%244th of 719
- Expected goals (xGF%)48.7%397th of 719
- Sequence xG (sxGF%)48.5%409th of 719
- High-danger chances (HDCF%)50.8%321st of 719
- Scoring chances (SCF%)51.1%256th of 719
Transition, turnovers & faceoffs
- Transition attempts /600.62466th of 719
- Turnover Ledger /60−0.026260th of 719
- Forecheck xG /60 (on-ice)0.32215th of 719
Usage
- Ice time per game20:21112th of 715
- Power-play time per game0:08487th of 715
- Offensive-zone start %47.5%441st of 719
Special teams & discipline
- Net penalties drawn /60−0.02310th of 719
Luck & trend
- On-ice PDO982521st of 719
- Goals above expected−0.3374th of 715
- Luck Meter−38655th of 828
- Ascension score5789th of 526
NHL EDGE tracking
- Top skating speed22.1435th of 715
- 20+ mph bursts67318th of 715
- Hardest shot85.8473rd of 715
- Offensive-zone time42.1%315th of 715
Unranked rows are below the sample minimum (20 GP, 200 five-on-five minutes, 100 draws or 10 goalie games).
Beyond the box score
2025-26 regular season · 68 of 68 games through the sequence engine
- −0.064
- Season net
- −1.24xG
5-on-5. Each takeaway is credited, and each giveaway charged, at the league xG value of the zone.
- Per 60
- 0.62
- Attempts
- 12
- 0.015
5-on-5 shots within 10 seconds of winning the puck outside the offensive zone.
Role changes
Notable promotions, demotions and ice-time swings from Line Watch
- Moved up to D1 from D2Nov 1, 2025 alerts →
- Played 6:46 more than his 5-game averageNov 1, 2025 alerts →
- Moved up to D1 from D2May 9, 2025 alerts →
- Played 8:49 more than his 5-game averageMay 9, 2025 alerts →
- Moved up to D1 from D2May 7, 2025 alerts →
- Moved up to D1 from D3Mar 1, 2023 alerts →
- Played 6:28 more than his 5-game averageMar 1, 2023 alerts →
- Moved up to D1 from D3Jan 3, 2023 alerts →
How the goals happened
17 goals since 2023-24 with NHL EDGE tracking: press Replay to watch the tracking animation
| Game | Play | Entry | Passes | Shot mph | Notes | Replay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 2026 vs DET | Forecheck turnover | — | 1 | 63.6 | — | |
| Mar 5, 2026 @ CBJ | Deflection | carry | 2 | 41.9 | deflection | |
| Dec 23, 2025 @ CAR | Forecheck turnover | — | 2* | 36.4 | — | |
| May 24, 2025 vs CAR | Odd-man rush | carry | 2 | 65.5 | 3-on-2 | |
| May 24, 2025 vs CAR | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 6.5 | 3-on-2 | |
| May 14, 2025 @ TOR | Forecheck turnover | — | 1* | 74.2 | — | |
| Apr 1, 2025 @ MTL | Off the faceoff | — | 1 | 28.7 | — | |
| Mar 13, 2025 @ TOR | Rush | carry | 2* | 65.6 | — | |
| Dec 18, 2024 @ MIN | Forecheck turnover | — | 1* | 42.1 | — | |
| Dec 16, 2024 @ EDM | Forecheck turnover | — | 1* | 44.5 | one-timer | |
| Dec 5, 2024 @ PHI | Forecheck turnover | — | 2* | 45.7 | — | |
| Nov 25, 2024 vs WSH | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 14.1 | 3-on-2 | |
| Jun 10, 2024 vs EDM | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 72.3 | 3-on-2 | |
| Apr 29, 2024 vs TBL | Cycle | — | 0 | 28.1 | — | |
| Nov 20, 2023 vs EDM | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 12.8 | 2-on-1 | |
| Nov 20, 2023 vs EDM | Forecheck turnover | — | 0 | 49.3 | — | |
| Oct 16, 2023 @ NJD | Rush | carry | 1* | 29.1 | one-timer |
* includes a royal-road (cross-slot) pass. Derived from NHL EDGE puck and player tracking.
Linemates
2026-27 · 5v5 time together and how each pairing performs with and without Mikkola
| Teammate | Pos | GP | Share | CF% together | GF% together | CF% Mikkola apart | CF% mate apart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seth Jones | D | 2 | 29:21 | 82% | 60.0% | — (0-0) | 43.8% 6:23 | 66.7% 5:13 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | C | 2 | 13:04 | 37% | 35.7% | — (0-0) | 61.9% 22:40 | 71.4% 13:06 |
| Sam Bennett | C | 2 | 12:58 | 36% | 41.7% | — (0-0) | 59.1% 22:46 | 56.5% 14:31 |
| Matthew Tkachuk | LW | 2 | 11:07 | 31% | 36.4% | — (0-0) | 60.0% 24:37 | 66.7% 11:00 |
| Sandis Vilmanis | LW | 2 | 10:55 | 31% | 50.0% | — (0-0) | 59.4% 24:49 | 52.2% 12:41 |
| Sam Reinhart | C | 2 | 10:47 | 30% | 66.7% | — (0-0) | 50.0% 24:57 | 52.6% 14:22 |
| Lars Eller | C | 2 | 9:53 | 28% | 66.7% | — (0-0) | 50.0% 25:51 | 66.7% 12:24 |
| Brady Tkachuk | LW | 2 | 9:52 | 28% | 55.6% | — (0-0) | 55.3% 25:52 | 50.0% 12:06 |
| Eetu Luostarinen | C | 2 | 7:57 | 22% | 69.2% | — (0-0) | 51.2% 27:47 | 60.0% 13:44 |
| Aleksander Barkov | C | 2 | 6:55 | 19% | 50.0% | — (0-0) | 56.5% 28:49 | 80.0% 9:01 |
| Anton Lundell | C | 2 | 6:27 | 18% | 58.8% | — (0-0) | 53.8% 29:17 | 50.0% 14:07 |
| Garnet Hathaway | RW | 1 | 3:32 | 10% | 42.9% | — (0-0) | 64.3% 13:05 | 100.0% 3:55 |
| Bokondji Imama | LW | 2 | 2:43 | 8% | 100.0% | — (0-0) | 52.8% 33:01 | 55.6% 8:36 |
| Gustav Forsling | D | 1 | 1:56 | 5% | 33.3% | — (0-0) | 66.7% 14:41 | 63.6% 10:43 |
Linemate and opposition quality
2025-26 · 5v5 · 1,168 min on ice · ranked against 270 defencemen · last season, until this season has enough games to rank
67th percentile · higher = stronger linemates
89th percentile · higher = tougher opponents
Top-line role: strong linemates against the other team's best.
Each value is the ice-time-weighted average season xGF% of the skaters Mikkola shared the 5v5 ice with. Small samples lean on each skater's previous season (or 50% for newcomers). Most skaters land between about 45% and 55% for QoT and 49% and 51% for QoC, so the percentile is the easier read.
Game log
2 games in 2026-27, newest first
| Date | Opp | Result | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | EV | PP | PK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | @ SJS | OTL 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 22:42 | 20:10 | 0:11 | 2:21 |
| Sep 29 | @ CAR | W 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | 21:32 | 17:41 | — | 3:51 |
Season splits by strength
2026-27 regular season · on-ice numbers from shift and play-by-play data
| Strength | GP | TOI/GP | SA | GF | GA | GF% | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All situations | 2 | 44:14 | 22:07 | 36 | 40 | 47.4% | 43.4% | 13 | 19 | 0 | 0 | — | 1.4 | 1.9 | 38% |
| Even strength | 2 | 37:51 | 18:56 | 33 | 27 | 55.0% | 52.4% | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | 1.4 | 1.0 | 63% |
| 5v5 | 2 | 35:44 | 17:52 | 31 | 25 | 55.4% | 53.8% | 11 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | 1.4 | 0.7 | 71% |
| Power play | 1 | 0:11 | 0:11 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |
| Penalty kill | 2 | 6:12 | 3:06 | 3 | 13 | 18.8% | 9.1% | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0% |
| 4v5 | 2 | 5:21 | 2:41 | 3 | 11 | 21.4% | 11.1% | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0% |
Career by season
Seasons in Edgehalla's data (2025-26 is being backfilled; earlier seasons follow)
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | TOI/GP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | FLA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0.0% | 1 | 2 | 22:07 |
| 2025-26 | FLA | 68 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -1 | 47 | 68 | 4.4% | 116 | 81 | 20:21 |
| 2024-25Playoffs | FLA | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +5 | 37 | 18 | 16.7% | 49 | 24 | 20:13 |
| 2024-25 | FLA | 76 | 6 | 16 | 22 | +12 | 70 | 116 | 5.2% | 137 | 88 | 20:12 |
| 2023-24Playoffs | FLA | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | +4 | 22 | 23 | 8.7% | 61 | 29 | 18:39 |
| 2023-24 | FLA | 82 | 3 | 14 | 17 | +11 | 69 | 93 | 3.2% | 198 | 124 | 20:02 |
| 2022-23Playoffs | NYR | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +2 | 12 | 6 | 0.0% | 8 | 12 | 14:23 |
| 2022-23 | NYR, STL | 81 | 1 | 5 | 6 | +6 | 58 | 62 | 1.6% | 151 | 106 | 17:26 |
| 2021-22Playoffs | STL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0.0% | 36 | 21 | 15:39 |
| 2021-22 | STL | 54 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -6 | 55 | 58 | 5.2% | 109 | 81 | 16:59 |
| 2020-21Playoffs | STL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.0% | 6 | 7 | 14:40 |
| 2020-21 | STL | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -11 | 11 | 22 | 4.5% | 49 | 36 | 14:31 |
| 2019-20 | STL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 0 | 10 | 0.0% | 5 | 3 | 14:22 |
Niko Mikkola news
- Niko Mikkola lights the lamp for PanthersESPN
- Niko Mikkola News: Working with Seth Jones in camprotowire.com
- Niko Mikkola StatsNHL.com
- Niko Mikkola Bio, Awards & Draft InfoNHL.com
- Niko Mikkola HomeNHL.com
- Panthers D Niko Mikkola fined $5K for unsportsmanlike conductField Level Media
- NHL Injuries: Ducks, Sabres, Avs, Panthers, Canadiens, Devils, Penguins, and MoreNHLRumors.com
- Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola leaves loss to Sabres with an upper-body injurymsn.com
Headlines via LineupExperts. Links open the original publisher.
On-ice and deployment numbers are derived by Edgehalla from NHL play-by-play and shift data. Tracking percentiles are from NHL EDGE. Data updates after every game.