Every NHL Team’s Worst Contract – The Hockey Writers – Trades Contracts and Transactions

*This article was updated after the 2025-26 season

The world of NHL contracts is changing. With the news that the salary cap ceiling is on pace to spike around $25 million over the coming three seasons, the era of the flat cap is ending. That also means that the contracts signed over the last few seasons, which might look bad under a flat salary cap, will likely look much better going forward. A player making $6.5 million per season is currently making around seven percent of the salary cap. If the cap does indeed balloon to $113.5 million a few seasons hence, those $6.5 million average annual values (AAVs) will drop to just 5.7% of the cap. The difference might seem small, but it compares to roughly a $5 million AAV in today’s numbers.

Chances are, the sharp increase in salary cap space will prompt a lot of reckless spending from NHL GMs. So this article might look very different in the coming seasons. But for now, we’ll look at the contracts that appear the worst by today’s standards. Most of these contracts were signed for a reason, given to players who have earned a great paycheck in the NHL.

Their inclusion is not meant as any disrespect to the players, who owe it to themselves and their families to get the best contract they can when it’s available. But injuries happen, performances decline, and circumstances change. In this article, we’ll pick the worst contract for each time right now, and look to e explain the circumstances that brought them to this point.

(The bolded text below each player name displays the term remaining on the contract entering the 2025-26 season, as well as the AAV and any no-trade clauses (NTC) or no-movement clauses (NMC) the deals contain.)

Anaheim Ducks: Mikael Granlund

(Two years, $7 million, M-NTC)

The Anaheim Ducks had a terrific season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2018. But there were a few older veterans on expensive contracts who were passengers more than they were leaders. Most notable among these were Mikael Granlund, who makes $7 million through two more seasons, and Chris Kreider, who makes $6.5 million for one more season. Because of the longer term and the higher cap hit, Granlund takes the cake here. Neither contract is going to put a bad taste in the mouth of Ducks fans who have plenty of reasons to be excited about their future, especially since they’re still well below the salary cap. But these might be contracts they’d like to unload if the opportunity arises.

Boston Bruins: Elias Lindholm

(Five years, $7.75 million, NMC)

Replacing Patrice Bergeron is an impossible task, but the Boston Bruins signed Elias Lindholm in part to do exactly that. At the very least, they expected the production of a first or high-end second-line center, capable of producing at or near the point per game pace he performed at in the 2021-22 season. After his first two seasons in Boston, the deal is starting to look like a disaster.

Obviously, the argument for a longer deal is a smaller AAV. But the 31-year-old is leaving his prime with three more seasons left to play. The risk on three more seasons of Paul seems to be the most potentially problematic, especially now that he’s missing big chunks of time with injury after shoulder surgery. The Lightning are still a well-run team with very few bad contracts, and Paul’s is nowhere near as problematic as others on this list — but it’s just a few seasons longer than it needs to be.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Chris Tanev

(Four years, $4.5 million, NMC)

It’s not going to be popular in the Greater Toronto Area, but there really is no justification for the six-year contract Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving gave to then-34-year-old Chris Tanev two summers ago. Unsurprisingly, it’s started to go very badly for the Maple Leafs, who missed the postseason with Tanev playing only 11 games. Long salary commitments to aging players are always a risky gamble, and this one absolutely has not paid off for Toronto, which looks like it’s on the edge of a potentially franchise-redefining restructure.

Utah Mammoth: JJ Peterka

(Four years, $7.7 million)

The Utah Mammoth took a big swing in the summer and traded for JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres, but so far, the gamble hasn’t paid off. The 24-year-old Munich, Germany native struggled to get off the ground in his first season in Salt Lake City, and finished with only 47 points, well off his career high of 68 from the season prior. Both teams made the postseason, and Peterka could still have a very bright future. But right now, this is a trade the Mammoth would probably undo if they could.

(Six years, $11.5 million, NMC)

Few players have ever fallen off as hard and as quickly as Elias Pettersson with his $11.5 million AAV. Yes, he’s played at a superstar level before, and the Canucks will use everything they can to get him back to that level. But they missed their opportunity to trade him before his NMC kicked in, which means they’re now stuck with whatever version of Pettersson remains until or unless he decides to try a fresh start.