This is one of the biggest WTF?! deals I've seen a goalie get in quite some time. Especially when the team had him on the bench for their opener in favor of a very washed up Grubauer, who has been bad for years now.
Daccord is 28 and pretty much entering his sophomore NHL season. Last season was basically his rookie season in the NHL at 27 years old. He was in the minors for years and got call ups, but couldn't even make the league full time until last year.
We've seen these types of goalies have one good season, then go on the very next year to look like the career AHL goalies they were thought to be prior to that one good season.
This deal is almost as stupid as the Korpisalo UFA deal from 2023. Only we KNEW Korpisalo was bad, outside of the one up year he just came off of. We don't really know if Daccord is good or bad. We certainly don't know if he's good. This deal could wind up looking bad before it even kicks in if he had a sub-par season. I didn't even realize it was for 5 years when I saw $5 million. I thought it was maybe gonna be 3 years.
They almost definitely have to buy out Grubauer after this year. But it seems like they aren't ready to stop making Grubauer happen. It seemed as though Daccord usurped him last year and outplayed him, yet they go right to washed up Grubauer for opening night. It is Disco Dan, who we already know is an idiot. I'm pretty sure Ron Francis is too.