Shame on you LA Kings

Back in June, the Los Angeles Kings terminated the contract of Mike Richards, this came after Canadian border guards found "some pills in a single bottle" during a routine check while he was crossing the border; Richards was arrested by the RCMP. According to (ugh) TMZ, the pills in question were Oxycodone. The CBA states a team may terminate a player's contract if: "a player shall at any time: fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club’s rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC." 

This move frees up a lot of cap space for the Kings, Richards cap hit was just north of $4 million. The Kings had a chance to buy out the contract with a compliance buyout, but curiously, opted not to. Last season saw Richards' production drop completely, to the point where the Kings placed him on waivers; he cleared and played with their AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs. With Richards' numbers dwindling, no team willing to pick up his contract (even on waivers), and the chance to use a compliance buyout on him gone, the Kings licked their lips at this opportunity to terminate his contract. Fair enough, given that Richards broke the law right?

Well, the LA Kings also currently have Slava Voynov under contract. Back in October, Voynov was arrested on domestic violence charges, a month later he was charged with one felony count of corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury. Following the arrest, Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and is currently still suspended. Even though he only played 6 games last season, Voynov was still paid his salary during the league's (still ongoing) investigation. In fact, despite the suspension by the league, the Kings allowed Voynov to skate with the team during a practice, the league fined them $100,000 for that. In June, the Kings suspended Voynov because he was injured "outside of normal hockey training," again, freeing up more cap room, but he is still under contract to the team. 

So, to recap: Richards was caught with a bottle of pills at the border, has his contract immediately terminated before being formerly charged. Voynov, on the other hand, is arrested for domestic violence, suspended (with pay) by the NHL, eventually suspended by the Kings, conveniently before Free Agent Frenzy, for suffering an injury, but is still under contract to the team. 

I'm not defending what Richards did, at the end of the day, he broke the law. But the Kings are setting a precedent here, if you're a versatile player and break the law, they'll have your back, otherwise, don't let the door hit you on the way out. I don't know what's going on in Richards' personal life, I don't know if he's addicted to these pills, or legitimately needs them. Either way, the Kings are turning their back on a man who needs help because they don't want to pay him that much money anymore. Shame on you LA Kings.

The 2nd Annual All Bad Contracts Team

Welcome to the 2nd Annual All-Bad Contracts team. This is a post where I make a team only with players with bad contracts. If you want to see how it turned out last year, click here. There are a few repeats from the previous year, and also a few newcomers, but first the rules:

1.) It has to be contracts that are active for this upcoming (2015-2016) NHL season.
2.) The numbers are based on cap hit, not total salary (length is taken into consideration).
3.) Figures are based on Spotrac.

Let's get started:

LW- Ryane Clowe (New Jersey Devils)

Contract: 5 years/$24.25 million

Cap Hit: $4.85 million

Last Year's "Winner": Benoit Pouliot (Edmonton Oilers)

My Reasoing:

I remember fighting over this one in my head last year, but Pouliot just edged out Clowe for top (bottom) spot. In the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, Clowe put up just 19 points in 40 games (only 3 goals). New Jersey then curiously gave Clowe (then 30) the deal he has today. Since then, Clowe has dealt with numerous injury troubles playing in just 43 games in 2013-2014 and 13 games in 2014-2015. Clowe, will be 33 heading into this next season, out of his prime. His best season came in 2010-2011 when he put up 62 points in 75 games, but he hasn't been close since. Clowe will be 34 when this contract expires. The Devils will be paying a player in his mid-30s, whose effectiveness is rapidly declining and who's unreliable to stay healthy just shy of $5 million. It was a bad signing at the beginning, it'll be a worse signing at the end. 

Signed Until: 2017-2018

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Matt Moulson, Mikhail Grabovski, Marian Gaborik, Scott Hartnell, Clarke MacArthur, Max Pacioretty, Teddy Purcell, Brad Marchand

C- Dave Bolland (Florida Panthers)

Contract: 5-Years/$27.5 million

Cap hit: $5.5 million

Last Year's "Winner": Dave Bolland

My Reasoning:

Congratulations to Dave Bolland for being our first repeat winner. My reasoning is pretty well the same from last year: Bolland has never had a 50-point season, has never cracked the 20 goal plateau, and is an inconsistent player. After playing just 23 games for the Leafs in 2013-2014 due to injury, Bolland had another slew of injuries and was limited to just 53 games the following season. In his last full season (2011-2012), Bolland has just 19 goals, not enough to justify a cap hit of $5.5 million to begin with, but over the last 3 seasons combined, Bolland has just 21. 

Bolland just turned 29 so he's right in the middle of his prime. If he stays healthy he could hit the 20 goal mark at some point. But hoping for a player getting paid more than $5 million to score 20+ goals is unacceptable. Unless he manages to turn things around, I expect Bolland to be back on this list next year.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Brandon Dubinsky, Travis Zajac, Tyler Seguin, Patrik Elias, John Tavares

RW- David Clarkson (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Contract: 7 years/$36.75 million

Cap Hit: $5.25 million

Last Year's "Winner": David Clarkson

My Reasoning:

Yet another repeat, only this time he's on a different team from last year. That's because the Leafs did the seemingly impossible task of trading away Clarkson. Arguably the best trade of Nonis' tenure with the Leafs was trading away Clarkson for a player that will probably never play again (Nathan Horton). Like I mentioned last year, Clarkson has never hit the 50 point plateau, hitting 46 in 2011-2012. Clarkson played just 3 games with the Blue Jackets last season, getting injured during a scrum in his 2nd game. 

Signed Until: 2019-2020

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Marian Hossa, Joffrey Lupul, Michael Cammalleri, Radim Vrbata, James Neal

D- Jeff Petry (Montreal Canadiens)

Contract: 6 Years/$33 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Brooks Orpik

My Reasoning:

I'll be honest, I originally had Brooks Orpik back on this list but the more I looked at things, the less I could justify it. I looked at other defensemen with similar cap hits, and although Orpik is definitely overpaid in my opinion, Jeff Petry's contract just can't be justified. Now, Petry had more points last season than Orpik and he actually scored (Orpik had 19 assists, no goals). Orpik also has a Stanley Cup and two trips to the Final. Petry played in the playoffs for the first time this season and only because he was traded to Montreal from Edmonton. It's certainly not Petry's fault the Oilers have been abysmal during his tenure, but he is a career -68. Say what you will about the +/- stat, but at the end of the day, Petry has been on the ice for 68 more even strength goals against than for. If you're into fancy stats, Petry's Fenwick dropped from 49.2 with the Oilers to 43.2 with the Habs.

One of my criticisms of Orpik last year was that he was never in the running for a Norris nor named an all-star. Petry has never been considered at all for the Norris nor named an all-star (Orpik finished 18th in Norris voting in the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season). All these things considered is why Petry made this list. However, he has only played 19 games with the Habs, so maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.

Signed Until: 2020-2021

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Andrej Sekera, Matt Carle, Nick Leddy, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Tyler Myers, Brooks Orpik, Dan Girardi 

D- Dion Phaneuf (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Contract: 7 Years/$49 Million

Cap Hit: $7 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Tyler Myers

A lot has been written about Dion Phaneuf and his tenure with the Maple Leafs, some fairly, some unfairly. But this article isn't to question Dion Phaneuf as captain, it's to point out the terrible contracts in the league. No one will argue that since coming from Calgary, Phaneuf has lost a step, and that may have to do with an injury suffered in 2010 that saw Phaneuf's leg get cut by a skate. After putting up 40+ points in every season with the Flames (except the one he was traded to Toronto), Phaneuf has done so only once during the 2011-2012 season.

In Calgary, Phaneuf was always in the Norris conversation, he never won it (but did finish 2nd in 2008), it hasn't been the same in Toronto, yet Nonis felt the need to sign him to a $49 million contract. Sure, Phaenuf is the captain, sure, you want your captain locked up long term, but there has been nothing in his play since coming to Toronto to justify such a huge contract. Need more proof? Phaneuf's cap hit is the same as Drew Doughty's (and Doughty has 2 Cups to his name).

Signed Until: 2021-2022

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Kris Letang, Brian Campbell. Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Alex Pietrangelo, Erik Karlsson

G- Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)

Contract: 6 Years/$37.8 Million

Cap Hit: $6.3 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Cam Ward

For the second straight year Cam Ward makes this list. And the reasons for that are all similar from last year. Since leading the Canes to a Cup back in 2006 (while sporting a solid .920 sv% in the playoffs), his team has only made the postseason once. Now, while that's not entirely Cam Ward's fault, his career .910 sv% and 2.73 GAA do very little to justify a $6.3 million cap hit. The following goaltenders have a better sv% and make less: Steve Mason (.9102, $4.1 Mil), Marc-Andre Fleury (.9114, $5.75 Mil), Mike Smith (.9121, $5.66 Mil), etc.

There are only 5 netminders in the league with a bigger cap hit than Ward: Lundqvist, Rinne, Bobrovsky, Rask, and Price. And although only 1 of those goalies has a Cup to his name, when you think of "elite" those are the names that come up (maybe not for Bobrovsky...), Ward's does not. The only plus side of this contract is that it expires at the end of this season; I'm not expecting Ward to be back on this list next year.


Signed Until: 2015-2016

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Cory Schneider, Corey Crawford, Ryan Miller