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Top 10 worst contracts in the NHL

J

Joe S.

Moderator
According to these guys. How Clarkson isn't in this list is a mystery, especially since it is always easy to take shots at the Leafs.

What shocked me was Havlat - he's only 32 - for some reason I thought he was way older than that.

http://www.therichest.com/sports/hockey-sports/top-10-current-worst-contracts-in-the-nhl/
 
Joe S. said:
According to these guys. How Clarkson isn't in this list is a mystery, especially since it is always easy to take shots at the Leafs.
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It's probably best explained by A) they seem to care a lot about +/- and B) for some bizarre reason these contracts are rated based on judging a player's production now by the terms of the contract when it was signed, so Heatley makes the list with a "6 year, 45 million dollar contract" as opposed to being a pending UFA.
 
I just have to reiterate that any website that makes these "Top 10" lists and makes you click to a new page for every single item needs to be take behind the barn and shot.

As for DBG's list, I think it's actually pretty poor.

Johan Franzen is on his list for 3.95M.  The guy has 34 points in 40 games and every single year he has been a lock for 20-30 goals and 50+ points.  He has some injury problems but I fail to see how a 4M plays is one of the worst contracts in the league...let alone 10th.

Similarly he has Nathan Horton at 11th worst.  I understand the injury risk, but his defensive play, his ability to be a leader in the dressing room and be a core component of a Columbus team lacking an identify is pretty significant.  Not to mention that he plays really well in the postseason.  5.3 million is pricey and the term is risky, but I think you need to take the cap situation of the team into account too.  Columbus isn't going to run into the ceiling and they need to spend to attract players to a team with no playoff success to hang their hat on.

The rest of the list is pretty reasonable.  Leino, Clarkson, Weiss, Clowe all have terrible track records so far.  Clarkson and Clowe really don't have any semblance of a shot at being worth their contracts.  Weiss maybe has a small window to rebound but things look ugly for him and he always struck me as a guy who was hyped based on small sample sizes of good play.  If Weiss wasn't Canadian I think he gets treated more like a Havlat kind of guy who is good but gets trashed on for not being great.
 
L K said:
Johan Franzen is on his list for 3.95M.  The guy has 34 points in 40 games and every single year he has been a lock for 20-30 goals and 50+ points.  He has some injury problems but I fail to see how a 4M plays is one of the worst contracts in the league...let alone 10th.
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Well he's 34 and signed until his 41st year.  How many years going forward with the way he plays do you think he can keep that up?  Jagr at 34 had 96 points in 82 games, and he's the exception to the rule.  Now Franzen has a recent concussion on his injury history, too.  I can't see him keeping up his play much longer into this deal.

And that list was done before he had returned to action and put up 11 points in 10 games.
 
L K said:
As for DBG's list, I think it's actually pretty poor.

Johan Franzen is on his list for 3.95M.  The guy has 34 points in 40 games and every single year he has been a lock for 20-30 goals and 50+ points.  He has some injury problems but I fail to see how a 4M plays is one of the worst contracts in the league...let alone 10th.
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I think the DGB list just sort of speaks to the idea that any long contract is, inherently, a pretty risky one and the current concept of good team building is as much about avoiding risk as anything. I think there's some merit to the idea. Even a guy like Phil Kessel, who I think people are pretty happy with even at his extension prices, has some real question marks there. I'm fine with paying 27 year old Phil Kessel 8 million a year but 33 year old Phil Kessel? What kind of player will Kessel be if he loses a step?

I don't know. I guess I think that the only meaningful way to judge a contract is once you've seen it played out.
 
Potvin29 said:
It could also be...maybe there aren't a ton of truly terrible contracts in the league?
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Well, if that's true than what's interesting about a list like this is that in the absence of any real backbreaking contracts how you define a bad contract bears some scrutiny. Clearly DGB is focusing on pre-term limit deals where cap hits are reduced for term because of the risk involved. There's a lot of "this contract doesn't look this bad now...but it might in 8 years" which, while there's probably some truth to it, is largely speculative.

I think what's a little neglected there is the idea of judging whether or not a contract fits into sensible team building in the present or future. Like, the Hossa contract was obviously a calculated gamble to chase cup wins at some future expense. It worked. Calling it a bad contract, I don't know, it kind of ignores why it was signed.
 
2badknees said:
louisstamos said:
I wonder what the Top 10 best contracts in the NHL would be...

Tavares, I imagine, would be #1.
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Definitely. But Jamie Benn not far behind, after the year he's had.
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Another is Ryan McDonagh. Has quietly developed into a top 10 D-man in the league, while signed to a six year, $4.7M deal.
 
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