Bad NHL Contracts: 5 Players That Would Clear Waivers
By Ryan Ritchie
Bad NHL Contracts: 5 Players That Would Clear Waivers
It seems bad NHL contracts are handed out every offseason when July 1st hits, as teams look to bolster their rosters for the upcoming season. Sometimes a team is forced to overpay to secure a free agent’s services, while others hand out a long-term contract for one small sample size.
General Managers are becoming smarter – by way of force. In a salary cap world, teams cannot afford to hand out bad NHL contracts. Look at the Chicago Blackhawks for example. Every dollar counts for teams with cap constraints, and Chicago proves you can make good use of spending against the cap, if done properly.
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The days of handing out contracts with term or big dollars to a veteran in their 30s have disappeared. More and more players are being forced into professional tryouts (PTO’s), signing relatively low-cost deals. Great examples are Tomas Fleischmann in Montreal, or Lee Stempniak in New Jersey.
A few contracts that already made their way through waivers in 2015-16 include Philadelphia’s Andrew MacDonald, Nashville’s Cody Hodgson, and more recently Calgary’s Mason Raymond.
This got us to thinking, “who else would clear waivers if their NHL club sent them to the minors?”. We’re not suggesting teams should waive any of the following players. These are simply guys that 29 other teams would pass on because of their contracts in contrast to their play in 2015-16.
Salary cap information was obtained from GeneralFanager, while statistics were obtained from HockeyDb
Bad NHL Contracts: 5 Players That Could Clear Waivers
Matt Moulson, Buffalo Sabres ($5 million/year – signed through 2018-19)
It’s been a tough season for Matt Moulson. He has 13 points in 52 games, well below his career average, and on pace for a single-season low. There’s still time for him to turn it around down the final stretch, but 2016-17 should be a make or break season in relation to Moulson’s future with Buffalo.
Matt Moulson was originally a draft pick of Pittsburgh back in 2003. After four years at Cornell University, he signed with the Los Angeles Kings joining their AHL affiliate in Manchester. He saw 29 games of NHL action with the Kings during his three-year stint. He joined the New York Islanders back in 2009-10, having that memorable 30-goal season that propelled his NHL career. He was eventually traded to Buffalo in the Thomas Vanek deal, spending part of 2013-14 with the Sabres. Moulson was later flipped at the trade deadline to Minnesota, before re-joining Buffalo the following season. He has 329 points in 526 regular season career games.
Matt Stajan, Calgary Flames ($3.125 million/year – signed through 2017-18)
The only remaining piece from the Dion Phaneuf trade back in 2010. He’s in his 7th season with Calgary. His best season with the Flames was in 2013-14, producing 33 points. He topped that total in three of his six years with Toronto. After four straight seasons of 80 plus games played to start his career, he’s only topped 60 games in three of sever years with Calgary.
On the upside, Matt Stajan offers a little more than point production, which makes him a decent bottom six forward. It’s the cap hit that’s the problem. With so much money dedicated to the blueline, and the misidentity on Calgary’s top line (1RW), that money could be well spent elsewhere.
Dave Bolland, Florida Panthers ($5.5 million/year – signed through 2018-19)
A few big years with Chicago landed Dave Bolland a pair of sizable contracts. Only one problem; He doesn’t stay healthy enough to earn close to his lucrative cap hit, both in Toronto, and now in Florida.
He has 208 points in 433 regular season career games between Chicago, Toronto, and Florida. 168 of those points came with the Blackhawks. His best season came in 2008-09, putting up 47 points. Unfortunately, he’s only played 116 regular season games over the past four seasons between all three teams.
Now, he’s obviously got the skill-set to turn it on and start earning his hefty cap hit. But at this point, there isn’t a GM in the NHL that’d be willing to roll the dice in hopes of Dave Bolland staying healthy.
Matt Carle, Tampa Bay Lightning ($5.5 million/year – signed through 2017-18)
It’s been a memorable season for Matt Carle for all the wrong reasons. The twice 40-plus point producer from the back-end has zero points in 36 games in 2015-16. His down play has led to frequent nights spent in the press box as of late. This isn’t a guy getting paid $5.5 million dollars a year because of his excellent defensive skills. A decent player in his own end, Carle is paid for his ability to move the puck and join rushes – getting in on plays offensively.
Drafted by San Jose back in 2003, Matt Carle has spent time with the Sharks, Flyers, and Lightning. He’s accumulated 273 points in 696 regular season career games. His career-high came back in 2006-07 with San Jose, tallying 42 points. His next best was in 2010-11, producing 40 points with Philadelphia.
Brooks Laich, Washington Capitals ($4.5 million/year – signed through 2016-17)
Laich takes honors of biggest drop-off in production post lock-out for any NHL player. In the four years leading up to the 2011-12 NHL Lock-out, Laich had 201 points in 324 regular season games (averaging 50.25 points/season). He appeared in all 82 games in three of those four years, playing in 78 the other. In the four years since the lockout, Brooks Laich has 45 points in 176 games (11.25 points/season).
He only appeared in nine games during the 48-game shortened season in 2011-12, followed by 51 in 2013-14, and 66 in 2014-15. On a positive note, he’s finally put together a healthy season in 2015-16, appearing in 50 games thus far.
For a guy only averaging 10:54 of ice-time/game this season, there’s a lot left to be desired after seeing what he did for so many years in Washington’s top six. The Caps can’t afford to pay bottom six forwards that much money, so he’ll need to figure things out pretty quickly to avoid a buy-out.