The NHL’s 10 worst contracts (2022 edition)

[ddaryl]

14 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Would have been already if he wasn't misused like he was.

Skinners contract was wrong from day 1. He's playing better now with Granato but not 9 mil per season better IMO... 

I hated that contract the day it was signed

15 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

Whats wrong with skinner? He isn’t hurting buffalo 

Wrong place ? 

I like skinner but I never liked the contract. He's isn't worth $9 mil per season IMO

63 pts last year is not worth of $9 million

Edited July 29, 2022 by ddaryl

[Weave]

30 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

Skinners contract was wrong from day 1. He's playing better now with Granato but not 9 mil per season better IMO... 

I hated that contract the day it was signed

I like skinner but I never liked the contract. He's isn't worth $9 mil per season IMO

63 pts last year is not worth of $9 million

As long as its not preventing the team from improving, why would you care even a smidgen?

Should the day ever come that the team has the make a hard decision due to Skinners contract it will be worth the energy to care about it.  Until then, big meh.

[Curt]

22 minutes ago, Weave said:

As long as its not preventing the team from improving, why would you care even a smidgen?

Should the day ever come that the team has the make a hard decision due to Skinners contract it will be worth the energy to care about it.  Until then, big meh.

In the 2020-21 season and before when Sabres near the cap ceiling it was surely relevant.  It’s very likely to be relevant again starting in the 2024-25 season.

[Taro T]

39 minutes ago, Curt said:

In the 2020-21 season and before when Sabres near the cap ceiling it was surely relevant.  It’s very likely to be relevant again starting in the 2024-25 season.

It WAS relevant.  It isn't at present.  It will be again around the time you predict.  But, by then Hodgson is off the books and so is the current Okposo contract.  The cap will be going up again by then & provided the Sabres don't have any other albatross contracts it won't really prevent them from making any moves they want (with the possible exception of consumption a trade sending Skinner out of town).  Nearly everybody has at least 1 bad contract / wasted money from a buyout or 2; the key is keeping it to only Skinner's bad deal.

But worrying about it now seems as productive as worrying about whether Dahlin will want to pull a Tkachuk.  Right now he's happy being a part of this team and he's never given indication he wants to leave.  There's no reason to expect that to change at present, so no reason for people to drive themselves to distraction over it.

[French Collection]

KA inherited Skinner’s deal and so far it hasn’t hampered his plan. He is not a $9M player but if he plays like he can it is not a brutal contract.
So far, KA has been avoiding the big contracts, saving cap room for the internal growth of his players. I hope he keeps some powder dry for making a deal (UFA or trade) for a piece that will help take the next step when this team is in the playoffs. 

My mind always flashes back to Butch Goring for the Islanders at the deadline. He was the perfect fit on that team to complement the stars they had and help them win 4 Cups in a row.

[LTS]

19 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Jeff will be 34 at the start of the final year of his deal. He'll turn 35 in May of 2027.

I do agree with you that Tavares should also be considered for the list.  I think his model seems to punish players on no-playoff teams.  It also doesn't take into account how helpful Skinner's deal is in keeping this young team cap compliant.

I was counting years and not necessarily when his birthday was, thanks for the clarity!

[Curt]

47 minutes ago, Taro T said:

It WAS relevant.  It isn't at present.  It will be again around the time you predict.  But, by then Hodgson is off the books and so is the current Okposo contract.  The cap will be going up again by then & provided the Sabres don't have any other albatross contracts it won't really prevent them from making any moves they want (with the possible exception of consumption a trade sending Skinner out of town).  Nearly everybody has at least 1 bad contract / wasted money from a buyout or 2; the key is keeping it to only Skinner's bad deal.

But worrying about it now seems as productive as worrying about whether Dahlin will want to pull a Tkachuk.  Right now he's happy being a part of this team and he's never given indication he wants to leave.  There's no reason to expect that to change at present, so no reason for people to drive themselves to distraction over it.

No, nothing to really worry about right now, you are correct.

With Olofsson, Mitts, Thompson, Cozens, Krebs, Asplund, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju ALL needing new, larger contracts before the 2024-25 season, it’s possible, likely even, that Skinner’s contract will be a constraint.

Not really arguing with you, just offering my viewpoint.

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, Curt said:

No, nothing to really worry about right now, you are correct.

With Olofsson, Mitts, Thompson, Cozens, Krebs, Asplund, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju ALL needing new, larger contracts before the 2024-25 season, it’s possible, likely even, that Skinner’s contract will be a constraint.

Not really arguing with you, just offering my viewpoint.

Yeah, don't believe we are arguing here.  Just stating/highlighting different parts of the overall picture.

Yes, Skinner's contract might be constraining in 3 years.  But doubt it'll be a reason that one or 2 of those guys get moved.  A greater likelihood is that Savoie & Kisakov &/or somebody else is pushing for minutes and the Sabres will just not have a role for everybody at a value they've earned and a player or 2 will want to leave like Jordan Staal wanted to leave the Pens getting buried behind Crosby & Malkin or how Vancouver thought trading Hodgson for Kassian was a good move because they had other guys that brought what Cody brought but nobody that brought the concept of Kassian.

The cool thing about ALL (literally, everybody that'll be here in '24-'25 w/ the exception of Skinner & possibly Lyubushkin is 25 or younger now & most everybody in that category is well younger than that) the Sabres assets being young right now is they can get good fairly cheaply with a few kids coming close to their ceilings and they can keep the pipeline stocked for a long while by converting some of their guys that are coming into their primes but don't have a lead role into prospects & picks while still actually improving should any of this highly ranked prospect pool develop and reach close to their potentials.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

45 minutes ago, French Collection said:

KA inherited Skinner’s deal and so far it hasn’t hampered his plan. He is not a $9M player but if he plays like he can it is not a brutal contract.
So far, KA has been avoiding the big contracts, saving cap room for the internal growth of his players. I hope he keeps some powder dry for making a deal (UFA or trade) for a piece that will help take the next step when this team is in the playoffs. 

My mind always flashes back to Butch Goring for the Islanders at the deadline. He was the perfect fit on that team to complement the stars they had and help them win 4 Cups in a row.

Am I the only fan that thinks Skinner's deal is reasonable now and will be a bargain in about 2 years (at least cap wise).  Bottom line is even if he is overpaid it has not mattered to the plan and it's not any of our money that is paying him.

As to the bold ... the Penguins brought in Ronnie and Ulfie from Hartford in 1991 and they cemented a 2 cup team.  The following year Mule's father and that pain in the neck dastardy Flyer Rickie Boy was brought in to help win the back of the back to back cups in 1992.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Am I the only fan that thinks Skinner's deal is reasonable now and will be a bargain in about 2 years (at least cap wise).  Bottom line is even if he is overpaid it has not mattered to the plan and it's not any of our money that is paying him.

As to the bold ... the Penguins brought in Ronnie and Ulfie from Hartford in 1991 and they cemented a 2 cup team.  The following year Mule's father and that pain in the neck dastardy Flyer Rickie Boy was brought in to help win the back of the back to back cups in 1992.

Pretty sure the answer is 'yes.'

The contract is still at least $2MM/ yr too much though it isn't constraining anything & is actually beneficial in getting them to the cap floor, so though it's excessive it really doesn't matter at present.  But there's no way a player putting up 4 year older Skinner style numbers will be anywhere close to earning $9MM/ year.  And any player getting $9MM/yr then will be joining Jeff on that list Dom compiles annually.

[Brawndo]

Worse case scenario, here is the buyout of Skinner’s Deal in each of the last three years. 

[Weave]

54 minutes ago, Curt said:

No, nothing to really worry about right now, you are correct.

With Olofsson, Mitts, Thompson, Cozens, Krebs, Asplund, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju ALL needing new, larger contracts before the 2024-25 season, it’s possible, likely even, that Skinner’s contract will be a constraint.

Not really arguing with you, just offering my viewpoint.

And if some of them don’t hit their ceilings (most assuredly some won’t) or some of them get bridge deals their new contracts probably won’t be constrained by Skinners deal. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Weave

[Curt]

35 minutes ago, Weave said:

And if some of them don’t hit their ceilings (most assuredly some won’t) or some of them get bridge deals their new contracts probably won’t be constrained by Skinners deal. 

Maybe yes, maybe no.  It’s pretty certain that Buffalo will be relatively close to the cap in 24-25.  Those guys don’t all need to reach their potential in order for Buffalo to get there.  Might not prohibit Buffalo from keeping all their young guys at that point, but might prohibit them from bringing in a key UFA to help them move from playoff team to contender.

[ddaryl]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

As long as its not preventing the team from improving, why would you care even a smidgen?

Should the day ever come that the team has the make a hard decision due to Skinners contract it will be worth the energy to care about it.  Until then, big meh.

I was commenting on the 10 worst contracts in the NHL.. I think you have taken this completely out of context.

the day he was signed at 9 mil for 8 years I said that's a bad contract. Skinner didn't deserve Eichel money. He was worth $7 million a season then and I still think that's the number he should be playing at today.

He helps us get to the cap floor but that is a bad contract when it was signed and nothing has changed.

Do I want to get rid of Skinner or buy him out, no !!!.. But that doesn't change the fact he was overpaid to stay a Sabre when he signed the new contract based on 1 season playing with Eichel

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by ddaryl

[Drag0nDan]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

As long as its not preventing the team from improving, why would you care even a smidgen?

Should the day ever come that the team has the make a hard decision due to Skinners contract it will be worth the energy to care about it.  Until then, big meh.

And by the time they need to make that decision - it becomes far more palatable.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

I don’t think Skinner’s contract as an issue for the next 2 years at a minimum.

I see us at 63-66 mill in 2023-4 with KO being retained (2 x 3.5), and re-signing Cozens (3 x 4.25), Thompson (5 x 7.5),  Asplund (3 x 2.25), , Samuelsson (3 x 2.25), , Fitz and UPL (both 2 x 850K).  Rousek and Savoie make the team as Z and Vinnie exit. At the stated contracts we are at 63.

In 2024-5 Olofsson and Byson leave but Kulich and Johnson join.  Cap hit 74 to 78.  KA re-signs (Mitts 4 x 5), Krebs (3 x 4.25),  Dahlin (5 x 9),  Power (3 x 6), , Joki and Lyubushkin (3 x 3.5 each) and Comrie (3 x 3.5).  

In 2025-6 I see a cap hit of 78 to 83.  KO leaves and is replaced by Östlund or Rosen.  Levi also replaces UPL. Re-signed Quinn and Peterka (3 x 4.25) and Johnson (3 x 2.25). 

I see 3 year bridge deals for Cozens, Krebs, Quinn and JJP because they won’t have arbitration rights and I’m not sure how much PP time any of them get to really boost their scoring starts.  Quinn and JJP seem more likely to eventually get 1st PP time and if they do then my estimate on their bridge deals is probably low. 

One note, these are status quo rosters.  If Savoie, Rosen, Kulich and Östlund develop quickly, they could easily force a trade of a Krebs or Mitts, allowing KA to save cap and maybe move on from Jokiharju and Lyubushkin. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[DarthEbriate]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I don’t Skinner’s contract as an issue for the next 2 years at a minimum.

If it ever becomes a burden, a buyout anytime after this season (June 2023) is much more tolerable except for his final contract season of 26-27 with a single season $6M hit which could be planned for. 

[jad1]

8 hours ago, Curt said:

No, nothing to really worry about right now, you are correct.

With Olofsson, Mitts, Thompson, Cozens, Krebs, Asplund, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju ALL needing new, larger contracts before the 2024-25 season, it’s possible, likely even, that Skinner’s contract will be a constraint.

Not really arguing with you, just offering my viewpoint.

The young players aren't going from ELCs to $7M contracts.   Only two that are due big money are Dahlin and Thompson.  Mitts next contract isn't going to be big.

The salary cap and Skinner's contract are the least of the Sabres issues.

[Curt]

2 hours ago, jad1 said:

The young players aren't going from ELCs to $7M contracts.   Only two that are due big money are Dahlin and Thompson.  Mitts next contract isn't going to be big.

The salary cap and Skinner's contract are the least of the Sabres issues.

Some could go from ELCs to $7M.  Power could sign for that on a long term deal.

Mitts has 2 years left on his existing if he puts up 50+ and 60+ points the next 2 years, his contract will be pretty big.  That’s not outside the realm of possibility, he is already producing at a 40 point pace.

I agree that the cap isn’t an issue right now.  It’s the kind of thing that you deal with when it becomes an issue.  I’m just saying that 2-3 offseason from now Sabres should be pretty close to the cap.