Penalty Minutes PIM

PIM stands for penalty minutes in hockey. Minutes the player was sentenced to the penalty box.

How PIM is calculated

Counted: 2 for a minor, 4 for a double minor, 5 for a major, 10 for a misconduct.

A fight is a five-minute major for each player, so a season’s PIM leaders are usually its fighters rather than its dirtiest players.

What counts as a good PIM?

Half of the 675 qualified NHL players in 2025-26 were at or below 28. The tenth with the most were above 61, which is where the number stops being a good sign.

Median
28
Top 10%
61
Leader
152

By position, the median was 30 for D, 26.5 for LW, 26 for C and 25.5 for RW.

Qualified: 20+ games, non-zero, 2025-26 regular season.

Penalty Minutes questions