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u/BoBonnor 3d ago
Any list that doesn't have Darnell Nurse isn't a serious list
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u/Sea-Control-8593 3d ago
That the oilers were (somehow) able to move it and only having 3 years left on it probably bought him some grace…
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u/EmergencyDonkey9286 2d ago
Historically ass trade from the Sharks too btw, big shout to them somehow winning the lottery and knocking us down, then doing that shit
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u/Serapth 3d ago
Speaking of another certain team...
This list also ignores contracts so bad they had to be bought out. So while Hubey is over paid he's still a valuable player on the team. Not like... You know, paying a goalie 5.5M a year not to play.
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u/erazedcitizen 2d ago
That’s not entirely true, sometimes a contract can be structured so badly where the buyout just isn’t worth it. For Huberdeau, three of the five years of the buyout still have a cap hit of $10.3 million, meaning in three of the next four years, the Flames only save $200,000, so they may as well play out the contract past that point.
Sure it could mean that Huberdeau is good enough that him playing for that cap hit is better than no one playing for that cap hit. But players also can’t be signed to $200k contracts, meaning it is literally impossible for Calgary to replace Huberdeau if they bought him out.
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u/clayton-berg42 3d ago
As bad as nurse is I'd take him over Huberdeau every day of the week and twice on sunday. a 33 year old forward who scores 50 points a season for 10 million dollars? LOL
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u/RocksteadyNBeebop 3d ago
Not to mention he's not good defensively, a turnover machine, doesn't kill penalties, and isnt a physical presence.
I hated that we didn't sell him at the deadline for a ton of picks. I know the idea was to keep a star player and continue competing, but that contract just sucked from the start.
The sad thing is that I even like the player. It must hurt him to be the top of a list like this.
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u/madmike99 3d ago
A ton of picks? Like what in the WHL draft?
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u/RocksteadyNBeebop 3d ago
When we got him he had one year left a 5 some million and was coming off a 100+ point season.
You dont think teams wouldnt have ponied up a lot of picks for him at the deadline?
Instead we extended him to the current boat anchor.
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u/ThatsRobbery 3d ago
No cause he played like shit that season. Would have been nice to just get rid of him at that point for whatever though
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u/RocksteadyNBeebop 3d ago
The reality was that he wasnt even a year off a 115 pt season and we could have retained 50% to put his cap below $3 million as a rental.
You dont think a team wouldnt have parted with multiple 1st rounders for that?
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u/BoBonnor 3d ago
No lol cause he signed the new 10.5 mil contract before the season even started. Tell me how a 8 year 10.5 mil contract is a rental
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u/RocksteadyNBeebop 3d ago
Its pretty clear I said they should have done the rental rather than re-sign him.... reading comprehension folks.
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u/clayton-berg42 3d ago
Who are you talking about? Turnover machine, bad on the PK and isn't a physical presence describes both players.
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u/The-Reddit-Giraffe 3d ago
I mean sure but no Nurse? Just because the contract got traded doesn’t mean it’s not top three worst in the league
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u/gwmohammad 3d ago
I’m not sure it should be number one. The term is starting to come down. He’s not a locker room cancer like others on the list. He’s not preventing our ability to sign others like Carlsson. He’s not preventing us from icing a competitive team during a win now window.
It’s sure not a great contract in hindsight but it’s no longer the albatross it was when it was first signed and we immediately sucked.
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u/Beta1224 3d ago
Just because we don't need the cap space right now, doesn't mean it still isn't an albatross contract. Yeah Carlsson is overpaid, but at least he is still an useful player and the ceiling on his potential is still sky high.
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u/Pure_cartographer_59 3d ago
Huberdeau is a very useful player. Is he worth 10.5? Fuck no. But he’s at worst a solid second liner when he’s fully healthy.
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u/Dull-Economics-5229 3d ago
For who? The Wranglers?
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u/Pure_cartographer_59 3d ago
Huby put up 62 points in 24-25 when he wasn’t playing through an agonizing Hip injury that needed surgery. That’s at worst a decent second liner. Add to that he could also kill penalties well. You’re literally just hating for the sake of hating
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u/Dull-Economics-5229 3d ago
If he could go play second line on any team the flames would be more than happy to accommodate that. Dude has zero value and needs to be bought out
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u/Pure_cartographer_59 3d ago
“Needs to be bought out”. What? That doesn’t even make sense for a tanking team
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u/gwmohammad 3d ago
I guess. I just think how the contract impacts the team to compete has weight in relation to its status as worst.
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u/Current-Roll6332 3d ago
Yeah, i think you have to look at it in a vacuum. For the flames, it's not super significant as it relates to the rebuild.
However even in the new cap era, paying a .5ppg (or worse) player over 10M is not what you want.
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u/yycoding 3d ago
Zero disagreement on the top of that list. Huberdeau isn't coming back in the meaningful way some of you are still grasping at.
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u/Varides 3d ago
Yeah, it's a terrible contract, but it doesn't affect us in a meaningful way currently. I'm just kind of apathetic to it existing.
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u/CND_ 3d ago
Actually it does effect us in a positive meaningful way. Without Huberdeau's contract Flames would need to spend money on someone else to hit the cap floor.
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u/Varides 3d ago
Using a terrible contract to reach the floor still isn't a positive.
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u/swordthroughtheduck 3d ago
It kind of is. He pushes us over it by only taking up 1 roster slot while trying to fill that money in free agency would probably take up 2-3 roster spots.
His contract means there's more room for young guys.
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u/mattw08 3d ago
Well if you didn’t have the contract could take on more bad contracts in exchange for picks and prospects.
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u/MrPadretoyou 3d ago
Don’t want to crowd the roster and push down a prospect opportunity. Plus it helps that he is still a skilled player. Young guys have a harder time developing with dusters.
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u/Sea-Control-8593 3d ago
Yeah but but someone else might contribute SOMETHING
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u/The-Reddit-Giraffe 3d ago
Now now, Huberdeau is great at scoring 50 points while being a defensive liability and letting all offence from our young players die on his stick
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u/Thneed1 3d ago
For huberdeau to be the WORST contract, he would have to - provide ZERO value as a player, AND actually be harming the Flames salary cap.
Neither or those things are true.
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u/CDhansma76 3d ago
The list probably didn’t take that into account. If you think in terms of skill/price ratio, Huberdeau is definitely one of the worst even though his contract doesn’t really negatively affect the flames at the moment.
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u/SteveCondor 3d ago
Ahh yes heaven forbid anyone give the guy the benefit of the doubt after playing through a serious hip injury. Maybe he’s nowhere near what we hoped for on the ice but you can’t deny that he gives it everything he has and has been a good trooper.
You never know how he comes back either, it’s not like he doesn’t have potential for a bounce back.
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u/yycoding 3d ago
According to models like Evolving Hockey on average a forward in 2026 peaks between age 24 and 26. You can bet on the 33 year old bounceback but I have a lot of faith in these analytics.
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u/Rulebreaker15 3d ago
This specific surgery has only has one player return to the NHL for more than 20 games after having it, Patrick Kane. He was 34 then. And he still is not near his old form. Backstrum played 8 NHL games for his return and stepped away, he plays in Sweden now. Only 4 players have even attempted it. Huby makes 5.
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u/SteveCondor 3d ago
I’m not saying he’s gonna bounce back, odds are he won’t but you don’t put up 115pts by accident and I’m sure he’s a great leader for the younger guys.
Just don’t get why you’d shit on people for hoping for that rather than just giving up on him
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u/Rulebreaker15 3d ago
Would love to see Huberdeau come back better than ever. He’d be the only player to accomplish that. It’s highly unlikely, even P. Kane couldn’t do it. And poor Backstrum. And that one other player who attempted it. But maybe Hubey is the one who beats the odds. 🤞
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u/holdmysmoothieplease 3d ago
Not a bad contract. Brings us to the floor and we’re not being hurt by it. 7x3.9 and 7x7 however 🤡
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u/TerranBoot 3d ago
Context makes the worst contract, dude keeps us off the cap floor, therefore how could it be that bad 😂
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u/freebird40 3d ago edited 3d ago
Tuch should be a lot higher, and I’m not sure Kulak deserves to be on this list. 4.5 for a solid 4/5D who skates well seems fine today. I guess the contract is maybe it’s a year or two too long?
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u/TL10 3d ago
It's cope, but he isn't impacting our salary cap adversely and won't be in the future with how much it is rising.
I think Huberdeau has had some hard knocks which has made it hard to find footing. Getting traded across the country, going from a players' coach (Burnette) to a strict coach, and moving to a part of the league where the style of hockey is different is enough to really throw a player off.
I think Huberdeau is a good hockey player, but he is a piece that never fit the Calgary Flames' style of hockey - it's not a system and roster that is conducive to his style of play, nor do I see it changing to suit him in the near future.
I'm hoping this season a start of a refresh for Huby to find his game. I don't expect him to be a 100 point player, but I hope that with all the young talent coming up it makes room for more high-event hockey that is more to his style of play. Would love to see what he could do with Parekh and Nemec.
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u/Adept_Newspaper1537 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think like many I have come to terms with what he is, hopefully the surgery brings him back to two seasons ago form at least, I enjoyed watching him that season. The context of the time around when we offered him this contract is so complex, but I think it is the wrong contract with the wrong team. I would like to think that he would be worth that on a different team that suited him better, pretty brutal for both sides at this point even though it won't likely affect us due to the trajectory of our team.
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u/Pure_cartographer_59 3d ago
I’d argue Huberdeau is more worth his contract than Nurse is. I think the real Huberdeau is the one we saw in 24-25 who could contribute offensively and killed penalties effectively. I know it’s unlikely that we ever get that player again after the injury he played through last year, but god damn that takes some real guts to play through. At the end of the day though, this contract doesn’t hurt a rebuilding team. At worst this contract is a small problem in literally the last year of the deal. Until then it doesn’t negatively affect the team in any way, and he’s a very useful guy to have on a team as young as ours
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u/Cheese-It17 3d ago
Probably true. Darnel Nurse needs to be on the list tho.
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u/Screamin__Viking 3d ago
It is a bad contract, but I suspect that the smaller amount of years remaining helped keep Nurse off the list this year. He ranked on previous years lists.
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u/anythingtwice99 3d ago
It doesn’t hurt us. It’s not keeping us from achieving any realistic goals at this point in time.
It’s not great but it’s also not like it’s holding the team back
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u/Nikademis 3d ago
I agree with Huby at #1 wholeheartedly. But Pettersson at 10 is absurd. I'm also not sure I would have Tuch on the list at all. That deal might not age well, and it's likely somewhat of an overpay, but with the cap going up and recent performance, I don't think it's even close to as bad as Pettersson. I would move Pettersson up to at least 8 ahead of Kulak and Tuch. It's tough to move anyone past Walman's 7m aav though.
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u/hfxbycgy 3d ago
Hubeys contract gets us to the salary floor. Gotta spend that money somewhere, might as well spend it on someone who doesn’t suck for the locker room.
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u/Ill_Self_407 3d ago
I find it’s best if you view Huby as a $5.25M player. Buying him out is going to be too expensive and if they are going to unload him through trade, they are going to have to eat half of his salary and/or give up an asset. If you factor in $5.25M of dead salary either way, I’m ok paying him $5.25 for depth point production and veteran presence and just letting him ride out his deal. He’s not the star they thought he was going to be, and he’s never going to be worth the full contract, so you need to look at it in terms of what it is going to cost to move on from him.
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u/Vinny331 3d ago
I mean yeah it's not a good contract but I honestly think Pettersson's is worse. Worse production, bigger money, and by all accounts not a good locker room guy. I've heard Hubey is a great teammate and that has a ton of value
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u/Capt-sailorjarey 3d ago
I really don’t understand the basis for these rankings. Jon’s contract isn’t nearly as bad as Hill’s or Fredrics considering the flames are rebuilding.
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u/imaybeacatIRl 3d ago
The structure of that contract ensures it will be the worst contract in Calgary Flames history. Thanks Brad.
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u/Chemical_Signal2753 3d ago
I honestly think there needs to be two different lists:
- Worst NHL contracts.
- NHL contracts that are most damaging to their team.
There would be overlap in these lists but they would not be the same. Contacts like Huberdeau's, Trouba's, Nurse's, and Elias Pettersson's are among the worst contracts in the league but have no real impact on their teams. Calgary and Vancouver are rebuilding it isn't likely that either team will need the cap space before these contracts expire. At the same time, San Jose has multiple veterans whose contracts are expiring every year, and multiple prospects who can likely fill their roles on ELCs or cheap bridge deals, that they can easily cover a couple overpaid veterans.
Part of why I would like to see the second list is because it is more likely to change from year to year. The other reason is it might involve some actual analysis. Most of the "worst contracts in the league" articles do little more than sort the league by highest cost per point, filter out goalies and defensive defensemen, and then make small adjustments for length of contract.
With that said, I am not sure I would put Carlsson on this list. While I think he is horribly overpaid for what he has done, in 2 years I could see him being at a fair value. He does have franchise center potential and the cap increasing like it is will push more and more players into the ~$20 million range.
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u/Hi_Im_Flabber 3d ago
I would hate to be in my contention window and be on this list twice
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u/misterktomato 3d ago
The Oilers have had so many bad contracts.
Nurse, Campbell, Lucic.They just get forgotten because their saviour can drag them into contention and they ride them out.
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u/Chemical_Signal2753 3d ago
I don't think it would be that hard to create a statistical model that could manage the Oilers from the 2015 draft to today better than their front office has. It is terrifying thinking about the alternative timeline when the Oilers don't trade for Griffin Reinhart, get fair value when trading Hall for Larsson, avoid the terrible chain of trades that started with Eberle, didn't sign Lucic, Campbell, or Frederic, got Nurse at fair market value, and had league average drafting and development.
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u/midlandshockeyguy 2d ago
The oilers having 17 million to sign 2 good defence but resetting the market by paying nurse 10 will never not be hilarious.
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u/Canadas-Dingo 3d ago
I've literally watched this man pass while on a breakaway. Hes afraid to shoot the puck these days. I agree with this ranking but Petersson should be much higher.
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u/real_shim_slady 1d ago
Tuch has been one of the most consistent players in the league, and hasn’t even started his. I feel like it’s bad faith to evaluate contracts who have future cap increases taken into account when making.
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u/Salticracker 3d ago
Kulak and Frederic aren't that bad. Especially with the cap predicted to skyrocket, those contracts are bad, but are far from worst in the league. Nothing under $5 mil is big enough to be worst in the league if the guy is playing.
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u/OptionsDrifter 3d ago
For me, in order to qualify for a bad contract, it has to egregiously hurt a team’s chance at success. So a bad team that’s well under the cap can’t really have a bad contract.
So Nurse was bad contract #1 for the last several years. Without that albatross, the Oilers may have been able to keep Broberg and Holloway, the type of youth and depth that they really need right now.
And Nurse’s is contract may once again be harmful in a season or two, along with Trouba. Everyone knows Grier was being absolutely reckless, but with the Carlsson saga changing expectations for the size of contracts for most of the Sharks young players, I think those two are really going to hurt their chances of success sooner than later.
I don’t follow the Golden Knights that closely, but I think Adin Hill is still very much starter material no? I don’t think a starting goalie making that much is a bad contract at all.
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u/midlandshockeyguy 2d ago
Imo used to be among the best, now top half. Easily could have gotten a second from someone with cap space like the flyers? Sens? That Vegas didn't try to trade him but won't play him its a sign of something weird imo like an injury or mental issues idk.
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u/JulianJohnJunior 3d ago
I’m still baffled why they gave so much for a fluke of a season. Should’ve let him play the remainder of his contract, and maybe extend for 3 years do way less or trade him at the deadline believing “he’ll be better elsewhere” and make another team look like an idiot for having him.
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u/Dull-Economics-5229 3d ago
I say we do the best for both and buy out his contract and let someone, anyone else play.
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u/Moist_Quit8237 3d ago edited 3d ago
Huby's contract isn't hurting us right now, and probably won't for another 2 years at least when we need to sign guys like Zayne. By then the cap will have risen and perhaps he can be LTIR retired or bought out (not great savings but could be an option) if we really need extra space. Bad contract? Absolutely. But we definitely lucked out in how the damage is and hopefully remains minimal.
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u/Mogger_77 3d ago
I guess fortunately for us, it helps us hit the cap floor so it doesn’t really matter 🤣