Joined: Dec. 2017
Posts: 5,012
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All it takes in the Salary Cap Era is one or two bad/expensive contracts and a team can be buried in the standings for several years. Look at what Tim Murray did in Buffalo or How Detroit has struggled since making the playoffs for a quarter century straight. There's no doubt about it: Bad contracts will decimate teams. Here are the 10 worst contracts right now, in my opinion. Notice how many of these teams haven't been successful recently. I won't include players on LTIR because their teams get cap relief (Zetterberg, Perry). Nor will I include players buried in the minors (i.e. Matt Moulson). Also, these 11 names are in no particular order as I believe Bobby Ryan to hold the worst contract in NHL history.
1. Loui Eriksson, VAN $6M AAV
2. Kyle Okposo, BUF $6M AAV
3. Kevin Shattenkirk, NYR $6.65M AAV
4. Marc Staal, NYR $5.7M AAV
5. Ryan Callahan, TBL $5.8M AAV
6. Ryan Kessler, ANA $6.875M AAV
7. Jonathan Ericsson, DET $4.25M AAV
8. Brent Seabrook, CHI $6.875M AAV
9. Justin Abdelkader, DET $4.25M AAV
10. Bobby Ryan, OTT $7.25M AAV
11. Brandon Dubinsky, CBJ $5.85M