Worst NHL Contracts 2010

Here are the worst NHL contracts of 2010. This list was compiled in 2017 based on their performance during the 2009/10 season. Free agents signed that summer are eligible for next year’s list, so everyone nominated here has played at least 1 full season under the contract. There is preference given to contracts with more term remaining.

1) Chris Drury, NYR, 2 more yrs @ $7M AAV: His career as a Ranger has gone from dire to horrific. 32 PTS in 77 GP does not a $7M player make.

2) Scott Gomez, MTL, 4 more yrs at $7.3M AAV: You never want to pay $7.3M for a 59 Point player, even if he was a decent contributor in the playoffs. His shots on goal total dropped from 271 in 2009 to 180 in 2010 in the same number of games.

3) Shawn Horcoff, EDM, 5 more yrs @ $5.5M AAV: In the first year of his rich new contract, Horcoff dropped from 53 PTS in 80 GP to 36 PTS in 77 GP. He may have just hit a wall at age 30. Some guys get old fast.

4) Wade Redden, NYR, 4 more yrs @ $6.5M AAV: The sharp decline in Redden’s point production continues, as he fell from 28 PTS to just 14 PTS in 2010. If this trend continues, he should score fewer than 10 PTS next season.

5) Mike Komisarek, TOR, 4 more yrs @ $4.5M AAV: Yes, he missed half the season with a shoulder injury, but he did not get an injury exemption because he really sucked for the 34 games he did play. No goals, 2 PTS, -9. Somehow, he finished with a 54% Corsi For, so some would try to argue he was good. He was not.

6) Nikolai Khabibulin, EDM, 3 more yrs @ $3.75M AAV: His first season in Edmonton saw him take a $3M pay cut, but it’s still too much. He sucked again, with a 3.03 GAA, .909 SV%. If he was hired to help Edmonton tank and get a high draft pick, then it was mission accomplished.

7) Cristobal Huet, CHI, 2 more yrs @ $5.2M AAV: That’s a lot of money to spend on 26 wins, a 2.50 GAA, .895 SV%. At age 34 it looks like it might be the end of the road for this guy.

8) Jeff Finger, TOR, 2 more yrs @ $3.5M AAV: He missed half of the season with a knee injury, the problem is that he wasn’t that good when he was healthy.

9) Mattias Ohlund, TB, 6 more yrs @ $3.6M AAV: At age 33 Ohlund experienced a significant decline in several statistical categories. It was the lowest point total of his career and he had knee surgery in the offseason. It’s not getting any better for this guy.

10) Thomas Vanek, Buf, 4 more yrs @ $7.1M AAV: He scored 84 PTS the season before signing this contract and hasn’t come close to that since. That’s way too much money to spend on 53 PTS.

11) John Erskine, Wsh, 2 more yrs @ $3.8M AAV: Erskine hasn’t exactly gotten worse, he was just never good in the first place. You don’t pay this much money to a big slow enforcer-type defenseman.

12) Sheldon Souray, EDM, 2 more yrs @ $5.4M AAV: This summer he began a feud with the Oilers front office demanding a trade. 37 games were all he needed to collect a -19. The Oilers are responding to the feud by sending him down to the minors for the upcoming season.

13) Mike Commodore, CLB, 3 more yrs @ $3.75M AAV: The decline in Commodore’s game became evident in 2010. At age 31 he has some hard miles on the odometer.

14) Matt Walker, TB, 3 more yrs @ $1.7M AAV: He dropped from 15 PTS to 5 PTS in year one. I’m not sure this contract made sense given his statistics the year prior, but it certainly made less sense after year one.

15) Cam Barker, MIN, 2 more yrs @ $3.1M AAV: He scored 40 PTS averaging 18m of ice per game the season before signing this contract and dropped to 21 PTS averaging 15.5m in year one. Chicago dumped him on Minnesota and went on to win the Stanley Cup without him.

Honorable Mentions: Jay Bouwmeester, Rick DiPietro (injury exempt), Brendan Witt, Colin White, Ed Jovanovski, Rostislav Olesz