Vote For 2025 Worst NHL Contract

Voting has wrapped in round one of my best contract election with a disappointing voter turnout, but enough to validate the results. Only 4% of visitors filled out a ballot, but my subscribers who love this subject have very high contract IQs. I’m currently holding a Twitter runoff election for the remaining slots that’s at 26 votes after 24 hours, so still need to brainstorm where to host future rounds. That will have the heavy hitters and hopefully solicits more voter interest. Traditionally worst contract posts and polls get more engagement, so I’m hoping that trend continues. Round 2 will wait until August, because I’m expecting we’ll get some wicked bad deals in July (big influx of new cap money + limited supply of high-end talent) who can be added to the tournament.

As with the best list, 20 players received a bye to the next round, and another 40 will battle for 10 round two slots. Each bracket is ranked by initial seedings, which was done quickly as a rough guess, not a bold proclamation that one is worse than the next. DISCLAIMER: to any fan base angered by players you like being included below, I’m not even convinced all of these are bad. Some might be fine, these are just the options that raised the biggest red flags in modelling. This disclaimer is mostly targeted at Islander fans who love Matt Barzal. Even looking at the brackets by seeding, I’m already disagreeing with my initial assessment, questioning my decision to include some options, lots of self-doubt requiring your opinions to strengthen my confidence in the underlying badness. Please vote! I’m not necessarily voting for the top seeded option in each bracket.

We are 3 weeks away from the opening of NHL Free Agency, which for me is like the countdown to Christmas. If you want to know what everyone will get paid, my blog might contain the most accurate guesses you’ll find online. I challenge you to find anyone better. All summer I’ll be posting a few hundred contract report cards in Substack chat, which includes a thread for free subscribers. You do need to be a subscriber to vote in the polls below, but free is fine. If you like betting on hockey, you’ll want to join the paid tier next season. I’m offering a summer sale on annual memberships ($69 Canadian) that drops the monthly rate nearly 40%.

You may want to review my 2024 Worst NHL Contracts list before voting here, since several of the players competing in this year’s tournament are featured there too. There is a chat thread where I’m posting thoughts on the tournament. There are always free threads in the chat space for everyone to enjoy. The paywall is mostly for gambling, but if you love betting on hockey, the opportunity cost of not accessing my picks for every game is far greater than the fee. 75% of my picks next season will be exclusively posted inside my castle walls. All my contract and fantasy content stays free (aside from a few VIP chat threads). Paying also guarantees admission to my subscriber fantasy league.

Here are the 20 players getting a bye to the next round.

Note that Darnell Nurse will be disqualified if Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup.

Poll 1

Had Tyler Seguin played 82 games and scored 82 PTS, unlikely he would have qualified for this tournament, but health is a concern for the final 2 years. Barzal I’m not even decided has a bad contract, but it raised red flags in the modelling, even with projected cap increases. I sparked a civil war from my fellow Detroit fans last time I had the gaul to put Copp into a bad contract poll, but unlikely any would object to his current inclusion. I’m undecided on DeBrusk having a bad contract, but dropping to 48 PTS at age 28 with 6 years left raised red flags.

Poll 2

By my count, this Stephenson contract is the 12^th time in the salary cap era that a forward >=30 years old received at least 7 years term. 8 of those can be found (or nominated) for one of my team-by-team worst contract lists, none on a best list (J.T Miller is nominated for Vancouver’s list he can crack by defying Father Time). I’d be curious to know which of those were cited by Seattle’s analytics department supporting this as a good idea. Chris Kreider had 22 goals and 8 assists this season, production crashing at age 33. There’s a chance he bounces back next year but I’m not betting on it. Doughty would be fine with an $8M cap hit. Montour earned his money this year, but 6 more at age 31 is a concern.

Poll 3

The good news from Boston’s perspective is Ottawa eating part of Korpisalo’s deal, but that won’t stop it from getting added to Ottawa’s worst contract list. Lawson Crouse produced $980K of value for $4.3M, Goodrow $775K for $3.6M. Norris has the potential to earn this deal, but injuries have become a giant concern, which makes it confusing they flipped Dylan Cozens for damaged goods. Pretty sure Ottawa’s front office exchanged a few high-fives after that deal became official. I’m still not convinced Buchnevich has a bad contract, we just need to see how well he ages, but there are red flags.

Poll 4

Boston’s blueline getting ravaged by injuries 2^nd half meant Zadorov’s ice time was way higher than it would/should have been, on a deal that made me cringe immediately upon receiving the breaking news last summer. For sure that front office talked themselves into it by saying this is the type of player you want in the playoffs. We’ll see if he ever plays a playoff game in a Bruins jersey. Trenin has value, but they’re just paying too much for that. I valued his stat line at $900K. I bet Philly is the only franchise willing to pay Hathaway $2.4M, trying to maintain the Broadstreet bully reputation. Ristolainen doesn’t produce enough offense to justify the paygrade.

Poll 5

As mentioned in the chat, I once had the fury of Islanders Twitter unleashed upon me for including Barzal in a bad contract poll (he had won a previous poll to earn that slot), but not a peep after also suggesting Bo Horvat could be a bad investment. Miles Wood was a healthy scratch in the playoffs. Copy-paste my Drew Doughty explanation for Erik Karlsson. When Tyler Bertuzzi received 4x5.5 last July 1^st, I’d love to know what was his second best offer, because I’m willing to bet it was less term at a lower cap. Chicago just wants scrappy veterans among the young core coming up. Not sure they cared if this was a waste of money.

Poll 6

Maybe it’s premature of me to include Saros in this tournament before the extension officially begins; entirely plausible Nashville bounces back and Saros is a Vezina contender. But they also have a bunch of key players in their mid to late thirties and possibly beginning a permanent downward trend. I’m undecided which way this breaks, but that season left me nervous about that deal. My modelling hates it. Compher is a useful middle-six forward who can play wing or center, but he’s supposed to contribute more offense if he wants to earn that paygrade. The Pelech contract has not yet been added to my Isles worst list. Useful player, they’re just paying a big premium for a defensive specialist. I have Palat as the Devils 3^rd worst deal in the entire salary cap era.

Poll 7

I’m not sure how Chris Tanev’s body will hold together for 5 more years, but maybe Leafs management already booked him a luxury suite for a future trip to Robidas Island. Maybe the last couple years he’ll just heal his body all regular season and only play playoffs. I’m probably underselling the toughness element Foligno brings and he’s holding together at age 34, but that’s a $2M stat line. Roy isn’t getting enough ice time to justify that salary, which may be due to Caps defense depth, not bad performance by Roy. Skjei earned his money this year, but 6 more at $7M at age 31 raised red flags.

Poll 8

We have 2 more Lou Lamoriello “over 30 specials” in this bracket. Sorry Isles fans, you may disagree with the badness level of all their contracts featured here, but the volume of red flags your roster collectively tripped in my bad contract modelling should at least concern you. Unless you think Father Time is a pansy. Not sure Duclair will have many buyers if they want to move on from that one this summer. There are 32 GMs who would love Josh Anderson on their team, just nowhere near $5.5M. Killorn was an expensive mentorship, and hopefully for Ducks management, some of that veteran leadership rubbed off on the kids. Including Morgan Reilly here might be controversial, but he was the 60^th nominee out of 60. My initial nomination process didn’t get to 60 so we squeezed a few maybes into the last couple slots.

Thanks for voting! Check back in the chat for more thoughts!