Worst contracts...by Stanley Cup champions

[Raccoon Jesus]

2012 Kings, probably Dustin Penner
2014 Kings, Mike Richards?

Both teams were spread out pretty well to where neither contract hurt them at the time, most of the damage of the Richards contract was after that Cup, and the Kings were actually set up VERY well to have a window open till at least 2016 or so, but the Voynov incident and subsequent trades hurt their structure, cap, and assets in a way that was unrecoverable even as the core was still there.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Bryan Bickell contract forced the Hawks to move a player or two they probably didn’t want to after their 2015 win.

 

[Albatros]

Bickell was a great depth player until his health issues, earned that contract in '13 when he was paid pretty much the league minimum and could have been given the Conn Smythe.

 

[bleedgreen]

Bryan Bickell contract forced the Hawks to move a player or two they probably didn’t want to after their 2015 win.

Kind of a unique situation since the player was developing MS….

You can’t call that a bad contract in my book. He had earned it and likely would’ve continued to earn it.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Bryan Bickell contract forced the Hawks to move a player or two they probably didn’t want to after their 2015 win.

This thread is a disaster.

How was Gonchar during the ‘08-‘09 run? I just know he was making 5 mil, cool penny for that cat.

 

[WarriorofTime]

2010 Hawks didnt have any as Huets cap hit was able to be stashed overseas due to some weird loophole

Huet was stashed in 2010-11. He was on the roster the whole season and counted against the cap in 2009-10 when the Hawks won the Cup.

 

[McGarnagle]

Kaberle

 

[SEALBound]

Miroslav Satan was making $4mil in 2009 with the Penguins and was a 4th line / HS through the latter half of the season and playoffs.

 

[Brodeur]

Going back a way, but Oleg Tverdovsky maybe could be considered twice. He made 3.6 million on the 2002-03 Devils. He was an occasional healthy scratch in the regular season (+playoffs) and was scratched for the deciding Game 7 victory. After the season, the Devils tried to trade him but nobody was interested. Lou opted not give Tverdovsky a qualifying offer and he became a UFA at age 27. Tverdovsky wasn't that far removed from his 50 point seasons but he didn't attract any interest and ended up signing in Russia in late August.

After the lockout, Carolina signed him to a three year, 7.5 million dollar contract. An old THN article indicates that made Tverdovsky the second highest paid player on Carolina's payroll which I wouldn't have guessed. 2.5 mil AAV on a 39 mil cap is roughly the same percentage as a 5.3 mil AAV on this year's 83.5 mil cap. Tverdovsky watched most of Carolina's Cup run from the press box. A few months later, he was included as a cap dump in the Jack Johnson trade to LA. Tverdovsky only played a season in LA and got sent down eventually to the AHL. Kings loaned him back to Russia for the final year of his deal.

Obviously a difference between pre-cap and post-cap.

Edit: I believe Tverdovsky was only behind Stevens/Brodeur/Nieuwendyk/Niedermayer in salary for the 2002-03 Devils.

2005-06 NHL Salaries

2005-06 NHL Salaries

www.hockeynut.com

According to above link, Tverdovsky was second to Rod Brind'Amour (and eventually deadline rental Doug Weight) for the 2005-06 Hurricanes.

 

[PettersonHughes]

Tavares next season

You're up at hole 18, Auston. Time to go.

 

[Space umpire]

*yawn* Leafs have won a round

Maybe you should start a thread?
Worst contracts on a team that won 1 round of playoffs over the last 5 years

Did you follow the comment trail or just wanted to take a shot at the Leafs?

Edit: Anyways, I was making a joke and then it turned into lame win a round comments despite them winning one. I am done, enjoy your Saturday night.

”Making a joke” everyone got the joke. It was you thinking the Maple Leafs are worthy of being a cup contender next year. … I laughed.

 

[Indrid Cold]

Finally, an interesting thread for once!

 

[nhlfan9191]

Huet was stashed in 2010-11. He was on the roster the whole season and counted against the cap in 2009-10 when the Hawks won the Cup.

I think Huet might be the worst given he played 20 minutes in relief in the 2010 playoffs and was making $5.6 million back in 2010 when the cap was much lower.

 

[trick9]

Brooks Orpik (5.5m AAV) for the 2018 Capitals.

On-ice product wasn't nearly worth that money but he was a pretty good influence around the D to have, and he stayed on with the organisation working on player development.

 

[Aurinko]

Miroslav Satan was making $4mil in 2009 with the Penguins and was a 4th line / HS through the latter half of the season and playoffs.

6 pts with 9:55 TOI. I swear there are worse cup winners for 4M.

 

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

Bryan Bickell contract forced the Hawks to move a player or two they probably didn’t want to after their 2015 win.

The first name that came to mind.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Miroslav Satan was making $4mil in 2009 with the Penguins and was a 4th line / HS through the latter half of the season and playoffs.

I remember him inexplicably beating the life out of Patrick Eaves in the conference finals.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Brett Lebda in 2008.

Not that he was paid a lot, just the fact he was a regular on a Cup winning team.

 

[Voight]

Miroslav Satan was making $4mil in 2009 with the Penguins and was a 4th line / HS through the latter half of the season and playoffs.

Wow I completely forgot he was on that Penguins team.

 

[JaegerDice]

Brian Campbell’s contract was awful. % of cap hit on his slightly over 7 mill a year back then basically made them have to trade some good players and basically dismantle their winning team. Over 12% of the cap to be exact

LOL, wut?

Campbell was worth every cent.




The Hawks had to dismantle their team because ol Uncle Dale didn't get the qualifying offers for some of their younger players out and had to pay them like UFAs. So when Toews and Kane added another 6 mil or so to the books each, those young guys like Versteeg and Byfuglien had to be shipped out.

They would eventually trade Campbell to ol Uncle Dale in Florida in 2012. Not because Campbell wasn't awesome, he absolutely was, the Blackhawks just couldn't justify paying their 2nd pair LD more than their 1st pair LD (even though everybody watching knew Campbell really should have been getting Keith's PP1 time, which would have spread out the minutes more evenly).

Campbell remained awesome down in Florida, and the Blackhawks found a great partner for Hjalmarsson in Oduya.

It was tough times.... for two years, until an even better Blackhawks team hit the ice.

 

[End of Line]

I remember him inexplicably beating the life out of Patrick Eaves in the conference finals.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Another pre-Cap example:

Uwe Krupp on the 2002 Red Wings.

Was on the last year of a 4 year $16.xM contract signed in the summer of 1998. He had infamously missed most of the first year before getting suspended for two years because he was dog sled racing while he was too injured to play. All the legal mess between the team, league, NHLPA, Krupp, etc. was settled in the summer of 2001. Not sure if it was solely his decision, or part of the settlement, but he was re-instated and decided to come to camp that September.

He made the team but started the year hurt, played two games, then needed a surgery that the team kept putting off for some reason. Then he returned late in the season and got into 6 games while the Wings rested up some vets after clinching the Presidents trophy.

When the playoffs started, Bowman thought he'd need a big shutdown D-pairing against Todd Bertuzzi and the Canucks so he put Krupp with Jiri Fischer. Krupp was brutally bad going -5 while the Wings dropped games 1 and 2 at home. He then finished the playoffs a healthy scratch.

 

[Statto]

Kind of a unique situation since the player was developing MS….

You can’t call that a bad contract in my book. He had earned it and likely would’ve continued to earn it.

I have MS and can tell you that even stepping onto the ice after his diagnosis was immense, incredibly impressive. My first attach left my legs functioning ok but the altered sensation meant I’ve never been able to run since. His efforts were inspiring.

I agree it’s not a bad contract, but a bad outcome.

 

[Headshot77]

Jack Johnson