The first ever NHL front office idiot report card. It is everything you could have ever wished for as a fan. Each team has made a series of boneheaded decisions to get to where they are today, it is time for me to put them in there place. The scale goes from A+ which is the team with the best management to F for the teams with the worst management.
Make sure to weigh in and tell us which front office has made the most blunders in the league.
Anaheim Ducks: B+
When looking over the team’s roster you don’t see a whole lot of mess ups on this roster. The only one I can point to is the Ryan Kesler deal which isn’t THAT bad. Overpayment for an older player is a textbook move for all GM’s.
Arizona Coyotes: B-
For a team on the rebuild not a lot can be said. I mean they have Hall of Famer Chris Pronger under contract which is still a WTF moment for fans. The only other deal that has some questionability is the Mike Smith deal which hasn’t worked out great for them thus far.
Boston Bruins: D
Overpaying Dennis Seidenberg, Adam McQuaid and Matt Beleskey are puzzling moves to say the least. Paying them a total above $10 million combined is downright criminal. For a team up against it you would think they would manage the cap a bit better.
Buffalo Sabres: C-
Having a few buyouts on your books isn’t the best look for the Sabres, but Tim Murray knew he had to start a big portion of this team from scratch. The Josh Gorges contract isn’t aging well at all and the Moulson and Gionta contracts, although place holders, aren’t particularly good either.
Calgary Flames: F
The Flames have some of the worst and most egregious signings in the entire league and most if not all fall right at the front office’s feet. Some pre-date the current group but a lot are self inflicted. The list of names that are overpaid on this team? David Jones, Matt Stajan, Brandon Bollig, Dennis Wideman, Derek Engelland and Ladislav Smid. They eat up a shade over $18 million against the cap contributing to about a quarter of their entire payroll. The good news for Flames fans? Some of these deals are coming off the books shortly.
Carolina Hurricanes: B-
Not a lot wrong with the contracts they have handed out as most are in line with other deals throughout the league. The one true overpayment is for John-Michael Liles who has a contract coming off the books this summer.
Chicago Blackhawks: C+
Seemingly every single year they have to have big change either due to poor cap management or due to the overpayment of star players. Fortunately for them it has worked out very well thus far. The only deal that they are kicking themselves over right now is the Bryan Bickell deal. I don’t think they will feel great about the Seabrook deal when it kicks in next year as it runs much too long given his age.
Colorado Avalanche: C
A complete surprise to me is that they apparently still employ Alex Tanguay. I didn’t even know he was still in the league. Good for him. No way in hell he should be making $3.5 million though. Brad Stuart is another contract that is eating up too much money. Luckily, both will be gone by the 2017-18 season.
Columbus Blue Jackets: D-
The team has some strong offensive players making some good money but also on the other side of the coin you have the Blue Jackets paying David Clarkson, Rene Bourque, Gregory Campbell and Jared Boll in excess of $10 million to occupy fourth line roles. Not good Jackets fans.
Dallas Stars: B+
As far as the offense and the defense go they are pretty straight forward and don’t have any earth shattering deals. The overpayment on goaltending though should be disconcerting for Stars fans.
Detroit Red Wings: C
Having Johan Franzen signed until kingdom come isn’t the best idea the Red Wings front office ever had. Buying out Stephen Weiss was necessary but a head scratcher for fans who never thought he should have been signed to that deal in the first place. Things could be much worse for a team that has a startlingly old core.
Edmonton Oilers: C-
The signings on their defense leave a lot to be desired. They need to get better on the back end but having Andrew Ference and Nikita Nikitin under contract isn’t helping the situation at all. Those contracts will be ending shortly which will help them long term. Help should be coming Oilers fans.
Florida Panthers: D+
The Dave Bolland signing is not great as it handicaps the team for the foreseeable future. Shawn Thornton isn’t a great signing either. As a team they are going to have a plethora of cap room after this season but they need to make sure they manage it well.
Los Angeles Kings: B-
The Mike Richards buyout is an odd situation that they are going to have to deal with moving forward. It could have been much, much worse. They also employ Matt Greene for too long of a period of time. Hopefully at some point in time GM Lombardi learns that he doesn’t need to be loyal.
Minnesota Wild: C+
Mikko Koivu is on the wrong side of the age curve and is making $6.7 million. Thomas Vanek is the same way and is making $6.5 million. They like to give money to aging stars which will be problematic for them if they continue that trend. Their young players need to step up in a big way and luckily for them the defense is starting to do so.
Montreal Canadiens: A
Their cap management has to be one of the better situations in the league as their aging players are going to be coming off contracts shortly and their young players are locked down into team friendly deals. The one player that could be considered an overpayment would be Andrei Markov but he is still playing at a high level and is excusable.
Nashville Predators: A-
Much like the Canadiens above, they don’t have any poor contracts on their team. Mike Fisher is a debatable contract but he is still performing at a good clip. Shea Weber may be on the wrong side of 30 and in decline but that still remains to be seen.
New Jersey Devils: C+
The players that are currently healthy are living up to their contracts, meanwhile the players they have on injured reserve should have never been signed in the first place. They have $12 million sunk right there. They aren’t worried though as they are still in the midst of a rebuild.
New York Islanders: B+
As a team that doesn’t have many high priced contracts they are doing a good job at keeping it all in check. They do have a problem paying middling players too much money evidenced by Cal Clutterbuck but otherwise it is a very strong situation for the Isles.
New York Rangers: B-
For a team perpetually up against the cap, they have had to trade away a lot of players and picks to appease other teams. The only true over payment on the team may be Dan Girardi, which isn’t that bad of a contract. Oh yeah, they do have Tanner Glass signed which isn’t a good investment.
Ottawa Senators: C-
Most of the forwards are signed on some pretty team-friendly deals except for maybe Bobby Ryan who was a tad bit of an over payment. The defense on the other hand needs to be re-hauled save for Marc Methot and Erik Karlsson. Paying Jared Cowen $3.1 million is not the best. They need to do more to support the back end if they want to compete long term.
Philadelphia Flyers: F
As Ron Hextall comes in and tries to restructure the team it is still a mess. RJ Umberger and Vincent Lecavalier aren’t valuable players at this point in their career and make $8 million combined. They also have the terrible contract of Andrew McDonald on their books for the foreseeable future. They are going to try and get rid of these contracts ASAP but good luck finding any takers.
Pittsburgh Penguins: B
They are always having to maneuver around the cap but this past offseason they made some good trades that bolstered their depth. The only bad contract on the books is Rob Scuderi which has hamstrung the defense this season. They are in a definite win now scenario.
San Jose Sharks: A-
They don’t have a bad contract on the books but the problem becomes too many contracts that carry sizable heft to them. They will end up having to move some of them out at some point but if they want to get a good return they should move them shortly. You also may want to monitor the internal strife within the organization. It is a big red flag.
St. Louis Blues: A
For a team up against the cap they haven’t really made any poor decisions. What is nice about the way they are put together is not one piece sticks out and is truly a cohesive unit. Plug and play at its finest. They will be getting some much needed cap relief next year and should allow the team to compete for years to come, regardless of what they do with Ken Hitchcock.
Tampa Bay Lightning: C
They are going to have some real trouble coming up next off season. A lot of their roster hangs off of what Stamkos does with his free agency. They have tied themselves up in some odd players like Matt Carle and Ryan Callahan, good players but overpayments that can keep them cuffed beyond next season. They are a contender now although tough decisions are coming down the pike.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Incomplete
This roster is such a mish mash of players I don’t really know how I am able to grade it properly. So I won’t. I will say that they are set up for the draft for years to come. SORRY LEAFS FANS.
Vancouver Canucks: D
Lucas Sbisa, Derek Dorsett: These are just some of the names that they are paying well above a million dollars to be on their roster. They have a solid set of young players coming up that they won’t be able to pay if they aren’t careful with their cap management. Benning is willing to move players which is a benefit for Canucks fans looking to have a long term serious contender.
Washington Capitals: B-
They still have Brooks Laich and Brooks Orpik on the books at a total of $8+ million, but other than those two Brooks the team is in pretty good shape. They will have to rid themselves of a couple of contracts but that shouldn’t be too tough. They are doing an admirable job with a skilled roster and I like their Stanley Cup chances moving forward.
Winnipeg Jets: A
They have an abundance of cap room and a loaded prospect pipeline. They are set up to be a contender now and in the future which very few teams on the list can say. The development has been a slow process but they are finally starting to see the fruits of their labor.