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Free Agent Profile: Oscar Lindberg

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It’s been nearly a month since NHL free agency opened and a number of notable players remain unsigned, including 13 of PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents. Given the slow-moving nature of the market and the limited cap space that many teams are dealing with, it’s no surprise that a role player like Oscar Lindberg, ranked No. 47 on our list, remains unsigned.

With that said, Lindberg could prove to be a surprise steal once he does find his next team. The 27-year-old forward has been a consistent bottom-six contributor in each of his four NHL seasons, but finally showed some top-six upside in a late-season stop with the Ottawa Senators. Lindberg earned career-high minutes in Ottawa and recorded five goals and eight points in 20 games, a 20-goal and 33-point full season pace. He also returned to playing center, his natural position from his start with the New York Rangers but a role he was not given while with the Vegas Golden Knights. A relatively young player to be available on the open market and who has the potential to keep improving beyond just a defensive forward role, a team interested in Lindberg could wind up with a middle-six center at a good value at this point in the off-season.

Potential Suitors

Much like in Ottawa, Lindberg’s ceiling will be highest in a situation where there is room for him to compete for a top-six or at least top-nine role. A team that still needs help up front is likely the most realistic scenario salary-cap wise as well. It’s possible that a contender could look at Lindberg for a bottom-six role if the price is right, but more likely a rebuilding club will be enticed by the reliable defensive play and offensive upside that he can bring to make a superior offer.

Among the teams that could look at Lindberg more closely as the off-season wears on are the New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, and Minnesota Wild. All three clubs could really use some more depth up front and have room for Lindberg to compete for a key role. On top of that, they all have the cap space to accommodate a potential contract.

Other interested teams who may look at Lindberg as more of bottom-six depth piece could include the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Projected Contract

In our Top 50 projections, we expected that Lindberg would land a two-year deal with a $2.1MM AAV. At this point in the summer, a multi-year deal seems less likely. However, it’s hard to see the salary dropping off by much. Lindberg made $1.7MM on his last contract and set a career high in ice time this past season, as well as recording 20 points in 55 games. If anything, his previous salary should be the low mark on a possible deal with something closer to the $2.1MM projection still the more likely result. It’s a salary range that teams in Europe would be happy to match to add a player of Lindberg’s ability, so interested NHL teams may have a hard time trying to drive the price down. Unless Lindberg is dead set on staying in North America at all costs, he should be able to negotiate a fair deal before the start of next season.

Free Agent Profile: Ben Lovejoy

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Veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy is someone who was in demand at the trade deadline and has typically been viewed as a capable option on the third pairing.  Despite that, he finds himself still on the lookout for a new contract more than three weeks into free agency.

Last season, the 35-year-old was largely a regular defender for the Devils before they became sellers at the trade deadline.  Several teams showed interest but he was ultimately dealt to Dallas as the Stars wanted to add depth for their push to the postseason.

While Lovejoy’s ice time dipped down the stretch to a little under 16 minutes per night, that changed in the postseason as he jumped back up over the 18-minute mark, right in line with his career averages that span over 500 regular season games.  That ranked fifth on the team and he was pretty close to Roman Polak who wound up with top-four minutes in the postseason.

Lovejoy is a very limited player at this stage of his career which certainly isn’t helping his value now.  He doesn’t bring much in the way of offense to the table nor is he a strong skater or puck mover.  He’s an old school stay-at-home blueliner that can be counted on to help kill penalties and provide a shot-blocking presence; the only time in the last six years that he hasn’t passed the 100 block mark was 2017-18 when injuries limited him to just 57 games.  Those aren’t elements that are typically in high demand at this point of the summer but as the season progresses and injuries take their toll, players of this type of ilk become a lot more appealing to some teams.

Potential Suitors

While it’s quite possible that Lovejoy ultimately winds up with a contender by the February 24th trade deadline, there’s a good chance he won’t wind up starting with one.  At this point, his market is largely limited to teams that could view him as an upgrade on their third pairing, as injury insurance, or as veteran leadership for a younger team.

That said, one contending team that could make some sense is Tampa Bay.  Of their four right-shot defenders that project to make a push for a roster, spot, three of them were in the minors for points of last season and the one that wasn’t is better off being deployed as a right winger at this point (Luke Witkowski).  If Lovejoy is willing to sign for close to the league minimum (a requirement given their salary cap situation), he could be an end-of-roster upgrade.

As for some other fits in the West, Anaheim’s defensive depth isn’t what it once was.  While they could certainly give some of their prospects a look (something that would make some sense with Dallas Eakins now behind the bench), adding a veteran like Lovejoy could also be useful.  Chicago only has Brent Seabrook and Connor Murphy as proven fits on the right side while youngster Adam Boqvist may not be quite ready for NHL action yet so there could be a spot for Lovejoy there.  A return to Dallas isn’t entirely implausible either, especially if they wind up dealing away youngster Julius Honka as many expect to see happen in the weeks to come.

Projected Contract

Lovejoy ranked 40th on our Top 50 UFA list with a projected contract of one year and $1MM plus an additional $900K in performance bonuses.  He’s eligible to have those as long as he signs a one-year deal.  If the summer progresses without much progress being made on a new contract, signing a bonus-laden pact may open up a few more options for Lovejoy closer to training camp.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Profile: Brian Boyle

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Brian Boyle is a player that has been in high demand on multiple occasions at the trade deadline.  Despite that, his market has been slow to develop this summer.  Let’s take a closer look at his situation.

While Boyle has been coveted by quite a few teams in recent years, it also means that he has bounced around a lot.  Over the past three seasons, he has played for four different teams.  Each of those squads have brought him in for the same few reasons.

The 34-year-old has been effective at the faceoff dot for most of his career while also playing a regular shift on the penalty kill.  Although teams have been trending more towards speed on the fourth line, Boyle has been able to adapt and be effective.

Look no further than last season for evidence to that effect.  He collected 18 goals between New Jersey and Nashville (who added him near the trade deadline), the second-best mark of his career.  While it’s notable that his 14.6 shooting percentage is well above his career average (9.3%), he has scored at least 13 goals in each of the last five years.  That’s pretty good production from a player towards the bottom of the lineup.  Accordingly, it stands to reason that he’ll wind up somewhere before training camps get underway in September.

Potential Suitors

There are two types of teams that are likely to have interest in Boyle at this point.  Contending teams with enough cap room may want to add him now over trading for him midseason while rebuilding teams looking for some veteran leadership (and a chip to play at the trade deadline) should also be inquiring about him.  Looking through the league, the majority of the potential fits appear to be in the East.

The Bruins lost Noel Acciari to Florida this summer and while they have other players that can fill that spot from within, Boyle’s the type of player they could conceivably look to acquire for depth at the deadline so if there’s a way to make it work, why not sign him now?  The tricky part will be the RFA contracts for defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo as until those are solved, it’s highly doubtful Boston will be looking to add anyone else.  The Islanders are known to have some interest in center depth after losing Valtteri Filppula to Detroit in free agency.  GM Lou Lamoriello brought him in while he was with Toronto back in 2017 as well.  Edmonton is hoping to get back into the playoff picture and if they intend to deploy one Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Connor McDavid’s wing, there could be an opening for someone like Boyle as well.

In terms of teams that could view him as short-term help with an eye on flipping him later in the season, several look like possibilities.  The Blue Jackets haven’t really replaced Matt Duchene who left in free agency while the Kings could have a spot in the lineup as well.  Both teams are currently being viewed as likely to miss the playoffs which would make him a trade candidate before too long.  Boyle was also a very popular player in New Jersey and while they don’t need more center depth, it wouldn’t be shocking if they found a way to bring him back.

Projected Contract

Boyle slotted in 30th on our Top 50 UFA rankings, with a projected two-year, $4.5MM contract.  A multi-year pact may be tricky to get at this point although a one-year deal around that AAV is certainly a reasonable possibility.  At this point, the top end of the RFA market may be squeezing out veterans like Boyle (once they sign, teams will have a better sense of what flexibility they still have) but it’s a safe bet that he’ll have a new team by training camp.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Profile: Derick Brassard

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It wasn’t that long ago that Derick Brassard was viewed as a legitimate top-six center.  In fact, you only have to go back about one season for him to be in that category.  However, the last year and a bit have really hurt his value which has led to a slow market so far in free agency.

To say the 31-year-old has bounced around lately would be an understatement as he has spent time in four different organizations over the past two seasons.  Pittsburgh brought him in at the 2018 trade deadline in an effort to give them a third scoring line.  Unfortunately for them, he struggled with his reduced role to the point where they considered shifting him to the wing to give him a chance to play a more offensive role.

That never really materialized and as a result, Brassard’s struggles continued into last season before the Penguins eventually cut bait with him, sending him to Florida in a four-player swap as basically a salary offset for the addition of Nick Bjugstad.  He got off to a decent start with the Panthers before cooling off but his time was short-lived with the team out of playoff contention by then.

His rough season led to a reduced trade market for him with Colorado ultimately stepping up to acquire him along with a conditional 2020 sixth-round pick for a 2020 third-rounder.  (Unless the Avs re-sign Brassard, they will receive that conditional selection.)  Things didn’t go much better for him with the Avalanche as he had just four goals in 20 regular season games before seeing his ice time slashed considerably in the playoffs to just over ten minutes a night.  Some players have big performances in contract seasons but this was anything but which has made his market much smaller than anticipated.

Potential Suitors

Brassard’s market will be determined by a couple of factors.  Is he willing to sign a short-term deal?  Is he willing to play the wing?  If the answer to both is yes, he should have several suitors as the offseason progresses.

In the East, the Devils have plenty of cap space and have already used that to their advantage to sign winger Wayne Simmonds to a one-year deal.  However, they’re set down the middle so Brassard would have to agree to shift to the wing for that to work.  A return to where it all began in Columbus also makes some sense after their depth was depleted in free agency.  He also has a little bit of experience playing under head coach John Tortorella.  The Islanders lost Valtteri Filppula to Detroit in free agency and Brassard could certainly slot in his vacated spot in the lineup as well.

Finding fits in the West is a little more challenging.  The Kings have some cap space and roster room but as a team that’s sort of sitting in the middle of no man’s land, the only way a signing makes sense is if it’s done with the intention of dealing him midseason.  Considering his dull market back in February, there’s no guarantee that the market at that time will be particularly robust.  If the Ducks want some more development time for their prospects, adding Brassard on a one-year deal (Corey Perry’s increased buyout cost would make a second year unrealistic) would be a reasonable idea.  He’d be a fit in Dallas but to get him, they’d have to dip into offseason LTIR (for Martin Hanzal) which carries some risk.

Projected Contract

Brassard was ranked 25th in our Top 50 UFA Rankings with a projected two-year, $6MM deal with Columbus.  While it’s still possible that he could land a multi-year pact, he may be better off at this point taking a one-year contract in the hopes of restoring some value for another run at the open market a year from now.  It’s still possible that he could land close to the $3MM of our initial projection given his ability to play down the middle and previous track record of offensive success.  While he has struggled lately, there would still be some upside signing Brassard so his market shouldn’t collapse completely.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ben Hutton Drawing “Strong Interest” As Offseason Continues

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The free agent period is now more than three weeks old and several interesting names remain unsigned. While Jake Gardiner is the top defenseman left on the open market, Ben Hutton is another option that would be much cheaper for a team closer to the cap. That might be why Luke Fox of Sportsnet reports that there is “strong interest from multiple teams” in Hutton, even at this later stage of free agency.

Hutton, 26, actually ranked 38th on our list of the Top 50 UFAs this year, thanks almost entirely to the huge role that he has played on the Vancouver Canucks the last several years. While he hasn’t shown very well in advanced statistics, the left-handed defenseman has averaged over 20 minutes a night through his four-year career including a whopping 22:21 per game in 2018-19. Hutton registered 20 points in 69 games last season with the Canucks and has 70 in his career, but is also a -75 as he and the rest of the team haven’t had much success during that time.

The Canucks decided not to qualify Hutton as a restricted free agent, an offer that would have been worth $2.8MM. That would have also allowed him to elect salary arbitration for an even bigger raise, something that Vancouver didn’t want to pay as they had their eyes set on bigger prizes. The team brought in Tyler Myers on one of the biggest deals in free agents at five-years, $30MM and also signed Jordie Benn and Oscar Fantenberg to round out their depth chart. Those three added to a group that is also bringing Quinn Hughes on for a full season didn’t have room for Hutton, especially at a relatively high salary.

But for another team, he may be the kind of player that can play a solid depth role or become perfect trade bait. A rebuilding club could continue to give him big minutes and hope his production improves even further, only to flip him down the road when teams are needy for playoff depth. Or, given his relative youth, if someone believes he can be a key player for them bring him in for a reasonable price now that the market frenzy has died down. Either way, the interest in Hutton isn’t surprising even if he has had to wait a few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Off-Season, College Free Agents, Bratislava

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Three weeks into free agency, it’s fair to begin analyzing how teams have improved this off-season, even though there are still several notable UFA’s who remain unsigned. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn did just that, using his predictive model to look at which team has done the most this summer. Topping the list, unsurprisingly, are the New York Rangers, who have added Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, and Adam Fox among others. Although some have been critical of their contract details, the Florida Panthers come in a close second after adding Sergei Bobrovsky, Anton Stralman, Brett Connolly, and Noel Acciari. The Vancouver Canucks (Tyler Myers, J.T. Miller, Micheal Ferland), Chicago Blackhawks (Robin Lehner, Calvin de Haan, Olli Maatta), and Washington Capitals (Radko Gudas, Richard Panik, Garnet Hathaway) round out the top five off-season performers, per Luszczyszyn. His bottom team, very obviously, is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who faced an almost-impossible task of improving with Panarin, Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel all hitting the open market. The addition of Gustav Nyquist is a nice move, but not enough to keep them from being the team that was hurt the most this summer. Even the nearest team, the San Jose Sharks, are not that close in terms of projected wins lost, and they have added no new players of note this summer. Fortunately, for Columbus and several other teams who have failed to improve but have the cap space to do so, there are a number of good players still available in free agency and salary cap crunches and restricted free agent dilemmas across the league will likely force substantial talent onto the trade block before the new season gets underway.

  • Another way that teams may be able to improve this summer is by adding some soon-to-be-available college free agents next month. While it’s not the most talented class and lacks any star standouts like years past, the August NCAA group could provide some minor league depth a potential NHL upside to a number of teams. Expect Quinnipiac offensive blue liner Chase Priskie to be the most sought-after target. The following are the players set to become free agents on August 15th, along with the team that drafted them:

F Brent Gates, University of Minnesota (ANA)
D Steven Ruggiero, Lake Superior State University (ANA)
F Christopher Brown, Boston University (BUF) – signed to AHL deal with WBS
D Ivan Chukarov, University of Massachusetts (BUF)
F Max Willman, Boston University (BUF)
F Beau Starrett, Cornell University (CHI)
G Chase Perry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (DET)
D Vincent Desharnais, Providence College (EDM) – signed to AHL deal with Bakersfield
F J.D. Dudek, Boston College (EDM)
G Hayden Hawkey, Providence College (EDM)
F Joe Wegwerth, University of Notre Dame (FLA)
D Nick Boka, University of Michigan (MIN) – signed to AHL deal with Iowa
D Jack Sadek, University of Minnesota (MIN) – signed to AHL deal with Iowa
D Nikolas Koberstein, University of Alaska-Fairbanks (MTL)
F Thomas Novak, University of Minnesota (NSH) – signed to AHL deal with Milwaukee
D Miles Gendron, University of Connecticut (OTT) – signed to AHL deal with Belleville
F Brendan Warren, University of Michigan (PHI) – signed to ECHL deal with Indy
F Jacob Jackson, Michigan Tech University (SJS)
G Jake Kupsky, Union College (SJS)
F Marcus Vela, University of New Hampshire (SJS)
D Chase Priskie, Quinnipiac University (WSH)
F Steven Spinner, University of Nebraska-Omaha (WSH)

  • HC Slovan Bratislava is enjoying an active off-season, signing eight players, but it’s still unclear where they’ll be playing next season. Bratislava announced in May that it would be leaving the KHL and re-joining the Slovakina Extraliga. However, Slovakian news source Sport.SK says that it’s not that simple. The club owes a total debt of $3MM to 60 players who were not fully compensated when Bratislava last played for their national league. Until that debt is square, the league could block their re-entry. As of now, Bratislava has offered to pay 30% of the debt up front and then negotiate payment schedules with the former players to cover the rest of the outstanding debt. The league has until August 7th to make a decision about the team’s future, either granting them a license to participate or not, but in the meantime they have officially signed eight players with the expectation of playing this season and Sport.SK reports that at least seven more are waiting to sign on. One such player waiting to see how things play out is former NHL defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who captained the team over the past three years in the KHL. One would expect the most well-known pro team in Slovakia to gain entrance back into the top native league, but unpaid player salaries is a sensitive issue in Europe and there could be more hoops to jump through before anything becomes official.

Poll: Is Tyson Barrie A Significant Upgrade Over Jake Gardiner?

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While most people look at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ acquisition of Tyson Barrie as a major plus when the team picked up the lead defenseman and Alex Kerfoot for Nazem Kadri and Calle Rosen on July 1, there are other analytics experts who suggest that the addition of Barrie isn’t much, if any improvements over Jake Gardiner, who the team has allowed to walk away in free agency.

Of course, Barrie looks like an impressive upgrade, especially when you look at his offensive numbers. Barrie scored 14 goals and 59 points last season and posted 57 points the previous year, giving Toronto another top-notch offensive defenseman next to Morgan Rielly. Gardiner was a second-pairing defenseman whose offense disappeared last year with 30 points, even though he posted 52 points the previous season. However, only one player, Barrie or Rielly, can get those first-line power play minutes and there is no guarantee that Barrie will be able to pry those minutes away from Rielly next season, suggesting that Barrie’s number’s could drop quite a bit. In fact, two goals and 23 assists came off the power play last season where Barrie was the team’s quarterback of the first power play unit.

However, analytics suggest that Gardiner, despite his struggles might prove to be a better blueliner, especially defensively. While Toronto is an offensive juggernaut, Gardiner still had a plus-19 rating in plus-minus, while there are some questions about how good a defender Barrie is. In Colorado, Barrie posted a minus-3 on an Avalanche squad that made the playoffs last season and a minus-19 the previous year, when they were a playoff team as well. While plus-minus might be considered to be an unreliable fact, Gardiner has been solid for Toronto despite the fact receiving Toronto fans wrath for years. He has averaged over 21:48 of ATOI over the past three years and in those three years ranks 23rd in the league in points with 125. In goals above replacement (GAR), which is an all-encompassing stat to evaluate skaters, Gardiner ranked 17th among defenseman last year and fifth in the league at even strength, according to evolving-hockey.com. Barrie ranked 50th last season and 66th at even strength.

However, Gardiner’s value seems to have dropped. Despite being considered one of the top defensive free agents on the unrestricted free agent market, Gardiner remains unsigned with rumors he’s seeking $7MM per season. While a change in scenery might have been needed for Gardiner, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Barrie will be the better player.

So, is Barrie a significant upgrade over Gardiner?

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St. Louis Blues Sign Jordan Binnington To Two-Year Deal

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The St. Louis Blues continue to lock up their players. A day after signing Robby Fabbri and Mitch Reinke Friday, St. Louis has come to terms with one of the stars of their Stanley Cup run as the Blues announced they have signed goaltender Jordan Binnington to a two-year deal with a $4.4MM AAV, avoiding arbitration with him. That deal gives him a slightly higher AAV than backup Jake Allen, who has a 4.35MM AAV.

“We are pleased to have Jordan signed for two more years,” added Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong. “His play was outstanding and we look forward to seeing him continue to be a major contributor for our team.”

Binnington may have been the difference for a team that was in 31st place on Jan. 2 and then finished one of the most remarkable runs in NHL history by winning the Stanley Cup. The team recalled Binnington from the AHL on Jan. 7 and the then-25-year-old posted an immediate shutout in his first start. The rookie then went 24-5-1 over the remainder of the season, putting up a 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage, seizing the No. 1 goalie job from Allen. Binnington continued that success throughout the playoffs, putting up a 16-10 playoff record, including a 2.46 GAA and a .914 save percentage, including one shutout.

While he’s been with the Blues organization for years, up until this year, he has been sitting in the AHL with no clear-cut shot at a job with the Blues. In fact, St. Louis didn’t have an AHL affiliate last year after the Vegas Golden Knights took their affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, and the Blues were forced to loan out their prospects to a pair of different affiliates. St. Louis actually loaned Binnington out to the Providence Bruins as they couldn’t find a place to put him. Regardless, he put up good numbers that year and was dominant in the first half of the season this year with their new affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, putting up a .927 save percentage in 16 starts.

Considering that he had made one NHL appearanIce in his career until now, many wondered what kind of contract that Binnington would receive as many people felt that he would have to prove he could repeat that string of success before he could earn a long-term contract. That proved to be true as Binnington will be betting on himself this year. The two years will take him to unrestricted free agency, which likely means that if Binnington can produce similar success next season, the Blues would likely want to sign the goaltender to an extension on July 1 next season so that Binnington wouldn’t end up on the open market in 2021.

With the signing, the Blues now have $7.12MM in projected cap space with a roster of 22 players. The team still has a number of restricted free agents, including Ivan Barbashev, Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Edmundson and Ville Husso.

 

 

Snapshots: Sabres, Gardiner, Tkachyov

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Few have criticized the Sabres’ side of the recent Henri Jokiharju–Alexander Nylander trade, but it’s a fact that Buffalo is overflowing with defenders after acquiring the young right-hander from the Chicago Blackhawks. As Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News’ points out, the Sabres still have needs to fill up front and they could use their defensive depth to do so. Lysowski writes that Buffalo has ample cap space to make an addition at forward, but there are few ideal candidates left on the free agent market and the team may as well use their surplus of blue liners to swing a deal. Jokiharju is safe, as are fellow recent additions Brandon Montour and Colin Miller and 2017 No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin. RFA Jake McCabe is not likely to be dealt, but a potential candidate and injury-prone Zach Bogosian and overpaid veteran Matt Hunwick might be hard to move. That would seemingly leave Rasmus Ristolainen, a fixture on the rumor mill, Marco Scandella, and Casey Nelson as the most likely names to be dealt and it would not be a surprise if more than one ends up elsewhere. The Sabres are certainly not done making moves this summer.

  • Of course, this makes Buffalo just one of a surprising number of teams not biting on Jake Gardiner this summer. PHR’s top-ranked UFA defenseman, Gardiner remains unsigned more than a week after the market opened. NBC Sports’ Scott Billeck reports that Gardiner is seeking $7MM annually in his next year, which is likely pricing himself out of the range that many D-needy teams are looking for. It’s hard to argue that Gardiner was not the best available defenseman when free agency opened, but he’s also not a top-pair defenseman by most metrics and teams aren’t willing to shell out right now simply due to a weak market. Billeck names the Winnipeg Jets as a team that could use Gardiner, but can’t afford him at his current asking price. The Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and his own Toronto Maple Leafs also fit that description. Billeck feels the New Jersey Devils could be the leading candidate to land Gardiner right now, but there really aren’t many clear fits for the defender at this time unless he changes his expectations.
  • Despite flirting with a jump to the NHL for several years, Vladimir Tkachyov has decided to re-sign in the KHL once again. SKA St. Petersburg has announced an extension with the young scorer. Tkachyov, 23, has been a solid offensive contributor for the past several years but the best may still be yet to come. The winger was acquired by SKA last month from Salavat Yulaev Ufa for the rights to Nikita Soshnikov, who has since signed in Ufa, and Tkachyov could be set for some career-highs with the perennial contenders in St. Petersburg. It is a two-year contract with SKA, so Tkachyov has a couple more years to further prove he is a formidable forward, and could very well drawn NHL attention once again in 2021.

Poll: Which UFA Contract Will Look The Worst Next Year?

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When July 1st rolls around every year, excitement around the NHL goes through the roof. Top players are available for nothing but money and fans want their favorite team to shell out the dollars and cents to improve the club. Unfortunately, the deals that are made on the unrestricted free agent market are so often flawed and doomed to fail. Teams overpay for over-the-hill veterans or lock up players already in their prime for far too long. Former NHL GM Brian Burke has long held the belief that more mistakes are made on the first day of free agency than any other.

Every year we get a reminder of just how tricky the free agent market is. In 2017 we saw players like Karl Alzner (five years, $23.1MM), Patrick Marleau (three years, $18.8MM) and Kevin Shattenkirk (four years, $26.6MM) all sign contracts that would be regretted down the road. Alzner has spent time in the minors after clearing waivers, Marleau has already been bought out of the last year of his deal and Shattenkirk could potentially face the same fate later this summer if the New York Rangers are desperate for cap space.

Just one year after the 2018 frenzy and there are already several deals that look like mistakes. Jack Johnson’s long-term deal (five years, $16.3MM) has Pittsburgh Penguins fans shaking their heads, while the Calgary Flames can’t find a spot for James Neal (five years, $28.8MM). Ilya Kovalchuk (three years, $18.8MM) looks like a shadow of what he once was.

Given the history of failure in this period, you can only assume that there will be teams deeply regretting things they did just a few days ago. Even just a year from now they might be trying to buy out some of the contracts they signed, or shipping them somewhere else to free up room. Which will be the worst? Which contract will be so unbearable a year from now that fans will be hollering for its removal? Cast your vote below and make sure to leave a comment explaining why:

Only contracts signed July 1, 2019 have been included

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