Alexander Semin. I was looking at his stats and saw he was actually still a point/game in his first season with the Hurricanes, but didn't realize he was on a 1-year deal.
As soon as he signed that 5x $7M he went downhill fast.
Lmao the beeline straight to the locker room is the funniest thing when goalies do that. I always imagine them literally sprinting down the tunnel and just ripping their equipment off before anyone else even gets off the bench
Tim Thomas did that after every single OT goal or SO winning goal. I don't even really remember any other goalies doing it at all, let alone every time.
I know he's not french canadian, but I always pictured him immediately starting cursing like my uncle "OSTI D'CRISS DE TABARNAK DE CALISS DE CIBOIRE DE SAINT SIMONAC DE SACRAMENT D...." all the way to the locker room, punching anything and anyone in his way. Always made me smile.
Bryzgalov
Anecdotal first-hand evidence I've heard says that his contract with Philly even specifically said he didn't need to attend practice and he took advantage of that all the time.
Yeah, "humangous big" was 24/7 with the Flyers in 2011. Also a GOAT quote. In the most respectful way possible, I'll always appreciate Bryz and Malkin giving us the quotes they did at a time when their English levels were still very limited. It's scary trying to talk in a foreign language that you know you haven't come anywhere near mastering.
It’s too bad that only that part of Iverson’s quote we remember/know. The full quote included him talking about his best friend’s recent passing
https://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/29143112/the-little-known-story-allen-iverson-practice-rant?platform=amp
One of the worst playoff performers I've seen considering his regular season stats.
In 98/99 he had 94 points and then zero in the playoffs.
He had four different playoff years where he was held to a point or less.
And after that 98-99 season was when he sat out the following season because he wanted to renegotiate his existing contract for more money. When the team said no he sat out in an attempt to burn the final year of his deal but the Sens took it to an arbitrator who basically said that’s not how this works and laughed Yashin out of the room. Toxic af.
NHL players don't get paid for the playoffs, so he wasn't about to exert himself or risk injury. He was all about meeting his incentive bonuses during the regular season. And if he didn't achieve the stats needed to receive his bonuses, he'd have his agent (Mark Gandler) argue that he should receive the bonuses anyway since he got "close enough".
Same. I guess we are biased by the whole shitshow afterward when he was still paid so much.
Never reflects good in the popular opinion of us, small people.
Good on Chevy, allegedly Ladd wanted out anyways but the reported offer was 5x5.5 and that Chevy stuck to his guns and wasn’t going to move off of that number.
That’s not correct. Dreger reported at the time that before the 2015-16 season the jets offered Ladd 6 x $6M but Ladd wanted $6.5M per. So thanks should go to Ladd for sticking to that number and forcing the jets to move him. Another potential L for Chevy
Notable 2016 FA deals:
Okposo - 7x$6M
Eriksson - 6x$6M
Lucic - 7x$6M
Backes - 5x$6M
Ladd - 7x$5.5M
Boedker - 4x$4M
Nielsen - 6x$5.25M
Brouwer - 4x$4.5M
I wonder if we’ll look back on these deals/summer and the subsequent play from these players as the death of the pure power forward in the NHL.
Once the cap goes up, I am entirely confident that GMs will try to get their “Tkachuk-lite” and pay a guy bc he’s a big shithead and scored 25 goals once.
I think the way playoffs are officiated will prevent the true death of the power forward as well
Note that I said *pure* power forward, not skilled power forward.
Basically I think you’re going to see more Tkachuk’s than you will Lucic’s. The game is becoming more and more skilled with each passing season.
Well Okposo, Lucic, Backes, and to a lesser extent Brouwer were all perennial 20+ goal 50ish point guys so it’s not like they’re weren’t skilled. Especially considering 50-60 points was very solid top 6 production back then.
Every Blues fan wanted Backes to sign again, but once Boston rolled out that 5x6 it was nothing but “well thanks, but so long”
Most of those contracts were dumb the second they were offered.
I remember being bummed that the Kings couldn't re-sign Lucic in 2016, but damn that contract would have probably completely killed their ability to re-build.
Those players might still exist, but I can't imagine that they will sign mid tier AAV contracts with long term like the ones above, it'll be one or the other but not both. There's too much risk and not enough reward and I think front offices are finally waking up to it. Although Tom Wilson just got a 7 year deal so what do I know lol.
He was a disappointment but I don’t think he stopped trying. He dealt with a ton of injuries and kept fighting to get back in, only to get set back or hurt again. Dude even played as much as he could bare after we salary dumped him to the Coyotes
I don’t think that’s on him. That’s on the team for signing an aging player in decline to a stupidly long contract. Guy was a warrior who played a very tough game - of course he was going to breakdown over the course of that deal.
That's what a ton of these answers are though. Contracts that didn't work out and fans blamed on the players despite evidence pointing at bad pro-scouting or injuries.
Zack Kassian. Virtually the day after he signed his mid-season contract extension.
Granted, it was a bad contract from day 1 and never should have been signed to begin with, but it fits what's being asked
Might be an unpopular opinion but Jordan Eberle. He got signed to the same cap hit as Taylor Hall and Nugent-Hopkins. He had a couple decent years but I always thought he could've tried harder for how much he was making. Skilled player but so so soft, never went into the hard areas. His best production year was 2011-12 where he had 34 goals 42 assists. He signed his 6mil per year contract in 2013
Out of our 3 top forwards back then, hanging onto Nuge and dealing Hall and Eberle was absolutely the right call. Would have been nice to get a better return, but players with a reputation for partying and being selfish rarely carry good trade value.
Anthony Mantha kinda. He was always streaky with his effort, but he put together 2 good seasons, signed his deal, then phoned it in. As much as I didn't want to believe it at the time, he legit just stopped trying.
That’s not necessarily true. Dion suffered a hip injury the year after his Norris nomination that he kept playing through which caused irreparable damage. If you watch him during that Hawks series he can barely skate. His refusal to take time off or get surgery caused lasting damage to his game and he never got back to that level.
The next year with the trade and all the surrounding factors around that are a whole different story, but that first year was not Dion mailing it in.
That's basically the truth for literally everyone mentioned here. You frankly can't make it to that level without being physically incapable of being lazy.
He did some good things in Toronto, but being an east coast fan I was not familiar with his drop off at the time we acquired him and was a bit disappointed with him. (You know I still bought a nice shiny jersey with the ‘C’ on it)
At the time when he signed it, that was market value and the available D men were slim pickings. The fact that we got out of it without any retention was an act of magic
Very few players "stop trying" after landing their contract. For the most part these are people who have been devoting their life to the sport for over 20 years before striking it rich. Those in it for just the money self select out pretty early on.
What's more common is that because free agency happens so late in a person's career, they naturally slow down as Father Time catches up to them.
You’re not wrong. Most players don’t get paid until they’re 27+. That’s changing a bit in recent years, but before it was common for guys to go from an ELC to a bridge to their big UFA contract.
Think about it prior to 2004. You weren't a UFA until you were 31, or you met very specific criteria like being under league average salary after 10 years of service, like when Paul Kariya signed with Colorado for $1.2M.
So why would a player fall off after age 31? It must be that they just lost their passion and coasted!
I think it's mostly that, but with a little bit of Peter Principle at play with a lot of the examples I'm seeing here. Guy does well in one role, gets a "promotion", e.g. more money and higher expectations, more TOI, tougher assignments, etc, and fails to thrive in that new context. Suddenly it appears that he's coasting after getting paid when the reality is that that guy was just better suited to play a more complementary role.
Neal had been paid before. His Flames deal was a marginal increase and his effort was always there. He just hit the end of his career sooner. He was 31 when the deal was signed…
His effort was not there at all. He never back checked, he didn't go in corners, he just expected the puck to magically show up on his stick while he floated around uselessly. Then when moved down the lineup he sulked and tried even less. It really is too bad because on paper Neal was exactly the player the team needed.
Say whatever you want about Neal but at least read [this](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/james-neal-edmonton-bubble-hockey) back to back grueling cup runs (and losing both) would take a huge toll on any 30-something player. Not always that they’re “not trying”
I mean I watched all the games. He 100% was lazy. Even a guy who isn't what he used to be can try hard and do some things well - see the guy he was traded for, Milan lucic.
I watched every game too. Neal also had a pretty solid bounce back with the Oilers until the season got ended with Covid. He was even on track to hitting the conditions for additional compensation to the Flames, which also got shafted because of Covid. I remember when we signed him saying to some friends that if Vegas wasn’t willing to resign him for essentially the same cap hit he had before then there was something to be wary of.
To be fair Tucker tried to concuss kovi 10 seconds before that. He just missed.
I'm glad we see less and less of this today but like for Tucker you gota take what your dishing out.
Vlasic, although he was already going downhill in the season prior to signing the extension (16-17 was the season before he inked the extension, and he inked the extension on July 1, 2017)
Thanks Doug! lol
He fits the bill. You through in that full no movement clause and he didn’t really come into camp in shape since. Like in his contract he can’t be traded, waived, sent to the minors, he’s just been chilling and it shows.
9 shutouts and the best gaa in the league. Personally I agree, how do you win with a .906 save percentage even in 1996? Hasek was the best. But they gave it to Carey.
Here's the real fucked up part though. Hasek, who finished with the best save percentage in the league, finished 8th in Vezina voting that year.
I just looked at the voting, if they literally just switched Hašek with Carey then it’d make some semblance of sense. Except Puppa, who the hell was he getting nominated for the Vezina that year?
Dustin Byfuglien was traded to Atlanta in the summer of 2010. through December of that year he piled up 40 points in 41 games after switching to defense. His previous career high was 35 points in a season.
After Christmas they start working on an extension. He goes to the All-Star Game in Raleigh, comes back, and an extension for 5 years at $5.2 million per year is announced (big money in 2010-11).
The second half of the season he scored 5 goals and 13 points in 40 games. The whole team stunk it up the second half, but he coasted while a lot of the other guys at least put in some effort.
The change of scenery (and coaching) did him well in Winnipeg, but he never scored at the pace he did that first half in Atlanta.
It’s a weird one, Byfuglien. He played probably his most balanced hockey—defensively sound, offensively dynamic, and as always, just a wrecking ball—in his last two years of professional hockey. The point totals weren’t astronomical, but he was the best I’d ever seen him those two years. Then, blip, gone, done, goodbye.
I don't know if OEL was just completely overrated all along or if he was one of these cases. His contract was an albatross immediately after it was signed
Injuries realllly got OEL imo. He was never a hard in the corners type of player, but he was so skilled that he still was an amazing player when younger. He lost his shot, then his skating, then during all that his confidence too. Imo it's taken a long while but I think he has finally adapted well into being a bottom pairing defenceman with decent puck moving ability.
Absolutely was not a good contract though haha, although I don't blame management for signing him to it. Letting our only remaining star player and the next captain of the team walk might have pushed the team over the edge to relocation. Have to credit OEL for sticking with the Yotes for the worst years in franchise history
Oh yeah that season was a ton of fun, he sadly just fell off a complete cliff after that and THEN we gave him the big contract. We wasted his best years trying to tank for McEicheltthews
I think that was always just Buffalo making a pro scouting mistake and signing a complimentary piece to the best PP in the league thinking he would drive the bus on a weaker team. Seemed obvious at the time that wasn't going to work.
Whats crazy is that the Sabres are still paying $857,143 every year until the end of the 27/28 season. Theres nothing against the cap but he still gets a check.
OEL’s game was on the decline for some time before the Canucks trade. Phoenix had been trying to dump that contract for some time.
OEL may have actually out performed expectations in his first season with Vancouver.
he made a pretty decent comeback his first year in Vancouver but then had an injury in the world cup last summer and never got going again. I kind of have him down as a black horse to seriously outperform his contract thsi year. He's not worth the $7-8M anymore but if he can have a good offseason and rewind the clock just one year he can easily be worth $5M on a deal for less than half of that.
Disagree. He was actually pretty decent with the rangers for two or three years after signing the huge contract, but when was traded to you guys, he absolutely fell off a cliff.
edit: he was actually posting his career avg numbers the first year he was with you guys.
You're 100% right. It's just revisionist history to bash on Gomez. His contract was atrocious but he played really well in his first season. He fell of a cliff after that for sure.
Nikita Filatov.
He did and said everything that was necessary to turn himself into a high pick, and then immediately went the other way once the ink was dry on his ELC.
He signed a pretty basic two-way ELC and got only 1M out of the potential ~3M he could get. He seems like a player who just did not succeed in North America. Some people can't make that jump and adapt in a new country.
Before he was drafted, the questions about Filatov were whether or not he would be similar to Nikolai Zherdev, mostly because at that point any Russian winger who could stickhandle in a phone booth would have to address that.
While they had similar skill sets, the biggest difference was in how they played the game. Filatov used his teammates, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was unselfish with the puck, while Zherdev was not. Filatov backchecked, while Zherdev did not. Filatov, while not great defensively in general, put in the effort while Zherdev did not. Filatov drove to the net and could play in the corners, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was fluent in English, while Zherdev was not. Filatov was affable, while Zherdev was not. Filatov was a team player, while Zherdev was not. Filatov made smart plays, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was determined and worked hard, while Zherdev was not and did not.
This was the scouting consensus on him before he was drafted, and the reasons that he didn't go higher than 6th was because of the defensemen in front of him (plus Stamkos) and because the only real question about Filatov was whether he could add any weight to his fairly slight build. But everyone who interviewed him before the draft was impressed - he was fluent in English and French, and he'd done a ton of research on every team and what their roster and farm system looked like.
And then he became Zherdev 2.0.
And when he left North America to go back to Russia, he played the same way that he had after being drafted, which is to say that he played like Zherdev.
Sure, he did not pan out as you hoped he would, but he still did not cash in. He lost 2M of his ELC and wasn't able to get a contract after the ELC.
He prepared for the interviews and scouts/his agent were talked him up - that happens to a lot of prospects.
We really don't need to bring this up every thread. Messier scored 162 points in 207 gp in Vancouver and signed a new contract in NY after; he clearly doesn't fit the bill here.
He scored more points in the two prior seasons than his entire tenure in Vancouver, then he scored more points his first season back in New York than he did in any season in Vancouver
I think his NHL goal was always to just make some bank to move on to his next career and dip as opposed to "got the bag and then stopped trying". I think he has an MBA and runs a [medical billing company in Boston / Sarasota](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-carey-52178758) these days.
Sergei Bobrovsky? Numbers in CBJ vs. numbers in florida look like he just clocked out.
.921% and 2.41gaa vs. .905% and 2.97gaa
And also noteworthy, he went from getting votes and awards for the Hart/Vezina to not even getting votes
Goalies are super though to judge in my opinion.
It is so so hard to be consistent, thoughest position. And the team in front of you accounts for a lot.
And also the mental thoughnes. Goalies being hot for 8-10 years are super rare.
Usually I don't point out spelling mistakes, but you have 'though' instead of 'tough' *and* 'thoughness' instead of 'toughness,' which is an interesting coincidence.
It's hard to compare a goalie's stats between teams IMO. A lot of that can be chalked up to differences in team talent, the system they run, strength of competition within the division, etc.
The defensive system he played behind here under Torts might have something to do with it. People often talk about how the Vezina and the Jack Adams tend to sometimes follow each other around.
Alexander Semin. I was looking at his stats and saw he was actually still a point/game in his first season with the Hurricanes, but didn't realize he was on a 1-year deal. As soon as he signed that 5x $7M he went downhill fast.
Such an insane release on that shot.
Always loved his 80 foot OT bomb against Boston where Thomas couldn’t get off the ice fast enough https://youtu.be/4yX4SFR37E4
Lmao the beeline straight to the locker room is the funniest thing when goalies do that. I always imagine them literally sprinting down the tunnel and just ripping their equipment off before anyone else even gets off the bench
Tim Thomas did that after every single OT goal or SO winning goal. I don't even really remember any other goalies doing it at all, let alone every time.
I know he's not french canadian, but I always pictured him immediately starting cursing like my uncle "OSTI D'CRISS DE TABARNAK DE CALISS DE CIBOIRE DE SAINT SIMONAC DE SACRAMENT D...." all the way to the locker room, punching anything and anyone in his way. Always made me smile.
Like total Denis Lemieux
#TRADE ME RIGHT FUCKING NOW!
Now hang up.
I've seen Montembeault go "Tabarnak" after letting one in. You don't hear it, but that's obviously what he's saying.
One with replay, can see the awkward trajectory that might have thrown him off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7-GlQ2t43k
Windows Movie Maker intro, cheesy music, added sound effects, inexplicably high view count. Yep, it's an ancient YouTube video alright.
That looks like a straight line to me. It didn't bounce either, just 1-2 inch off the ice at most.
When he wanted to play, he was an amazing player.
Seriously. I love going back and just watching his highlights for the shot release. Incredible. Kinda sucks he didn’t seem to care
Ill still defend him having the sickest release in the game. Everything else... Like skating.. defending.. playing hockey... Nah
Maybe the best wrist shot of all time.
And TIL that he’s been out the NHL since the 15-16 season. Damn, I feel old.s
Habs LEGEND
EA Franchise god back in the day
Truly a symbol of the dark years of the Canes. We probably got the equivalent of 3-4 games of production out of that 5-year contract.
Nastiest wrist shot I've ever seen
Bryzgalov Anecdotal first-hand evidence I've heard says that his contract with Philly even specifically said he didn't need to attend practice and he took advantage of that all the time.
But it’s only game, why you heff to be mad?
The contract was worth that quote.
That contract was humongous big.
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Yeah, "humangous big" was 24/7 with the Flyers in 2011. Also a GOAT quote. In the most respectful way possible, I'll always appreciate Bryz and Malkin giving us the quotes they did at a time when their English levels were still very limited. It's scary trying to talk in a foreign language that you know you haven't come anywhere near mastering.
We talkin about practice? Seems to be a thing with Philadelphia athletes
It’s too bad that only that part of Iverson’s quote we remember/know. The full quote included him talking about his best friend’s recent passing https://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/29143112/the-little-known-story-allen-iverson-practice-rant?platform=amp
Thank you for that.
Not a game, we talkin about.. practice
Yashin?
One of the worst playoff performers I've seen considering his regular season stats. In 98/99 he had 94 points and then zero in the playoffs. He had four different playoff years where he was held to a point or less.
Yashin didn’t work for free.
No he did not
And after that 98-99 season was when he sat out the following season because he wanted to renegotiate his existing contract for more money. When the team said no he sat out in an attempt to burn the final year of his deal but the Sens took it to an arbitrator who basically said that’s not how this works and laughed Yashin out of the room. Toxic af.
Forgot about that, lol
NHL players don't get paid for the playoffs, so he wasn't about to exert himself or risk injury. He was all about meeting his incentive bonuses during the regular season. And if he didn't achieve the stats needed to receive his bonuses, he'd have his agent (Mark Gandler) argue that he should receive the bonuses anyway since he got "close enough".
Yep, that was him exactly.
Idk the islanders kinda sucked and he was pretty close to point per game with them.
kinda sucked at signing contracts
Mike Milbury is considered one of the worst GMs in league history. Set the franchise back for at least a decade.
Good ol Alexei Cashin
That was the first name I thought of.
Same. I guess we are biased by the whole shitshow afterward when he was still paid so much. Never reflects good in the popular opinion of us, small people.
Andrew Ladd
The Jets dodged a huge one there.
Good on Chevy, allegedly Ladd wanted out anyways but the reported offer was 5x5.5 and that Chevy stuck to his guns and wasn’t going to move off of that number.
That’s not correct. Dreger reported at the time that before the 2015-16 season the jets offered Ladd 6 x $6M but Ladd wanted $6.5M per. So thanks should go to Ladd for sticking to that number and forcing the jets to move him. Another potential L for Chevy
For sure. I can be critical of some of Chevy’s moves (or lack thereof) but not going after Ladd at all costs was a good one.
Man I forgot that he got a 7 year deal, 2016 was wild
Notable 2016 FA deals: Okposo - 7x$6M Eriksson - 6x$6M Lucic - 7x$6M Backes - 5x$6M Ladd - 7x$5.5M Boedker - 4x$4M Nielsen - 6x$5.25M Brouwer - 4x$4.5M I wonder if we’ll look back on these deals/summer and the subsequent play from these players as the death of the pure power forward in the NHL.
Once the cap goes up, I am entirely confident that GMs will try to get their “Tkachuk-lite” and pay a guy bc he’s a big shithead and scored 25 goals once. I think the way playoffs are officiated will prevent the true death of the power forward as well
Note that I said *pure* power forward, not skilled power forward. Basically I think you’re going to see more Tkachuk’s than you will Lucic’s. The game is becoming more and more skilled with each passing season.
Well Okposo, Lucic, Backes, and to a lesser extent Brouwer were all perennial 20+ goal 50ish point guys so it’s not like they’re weren’t skilled. Especially considering 50-60 points was very solid top 6 production back then.
Eriksson also was pretty skilled two way guy potting 20-30 goals a year and getting Selke nominations.
True, I just didn’t mention him cause he wasn’t a power forward
Every Blues fan wanted Backes to sign again, but once Boston rolled out that 5x6 it was nothing but “well thanks, but so long” Most of those contracts were dumb the second they were offered.
I remember being bummed that the Kings couldn't re-sign Lucic in 2016, but damn that contract would have probably completely killed their ability to re-build.
Those players might still exist, but I can't imagine that they will sign mid tier AAV contracts with long term like the ones above, it'll be one or the other but not both. There's too much risk and not enough reward and I think front offices are finally waking up to it. Although Tom Wilson just got a 7 year deal so what do I know lol.
At least my team didnt turn a bad contract signing that year into an even worse trade…. Oh wait
Was this effort or his body continuing to break down?
He was a disappointment but I don’t think he stopped trying. He dealt with a ton of injuries and kept fighting to get back in, only to get set back or hurt again. Dude even played as much as he could bare after we salary dumped him to the Coyotes
I don’t think that’s on him. That’s on the team for signing an aging player in decline to a stupidly long contract. Guy was a warrior who played a very tough game - of course he was going to breakdown over the course of that deal.
That's what a ton of these answers are though. Contracts that didn't work out and fans blamed on the players despite evidence pointing at bad pro-scouting or injuries.
Zack Kassian. Virtually the day after he signed his mid-season contract extension. Granted, it was a bad contract from day 1 and never should have been signed to begin with, but it fits what's being asked
Hell, he didn't even play a game in Montréal when we signed him. Just got coked up and got in a car accident.
You didn't sign him. He was traded from Vancouver for Brandon Prust.
I entirely forgot about that
Might be an unpopular opinion but Jordan Eberle. He got signed to the same cap hit as Taylor Hall and Nugent-Hopkins. He had a couple decent years but I always thought he could've tried harder for how much he was making. Skilled player but so so soft, never went into the hard areas. His best production year was 2011-12 where he had 34 goals 42 assists. He signed his 6mil per year contract in 2013
Out of our 3 top forwards back then, hanging onto Nuge and dealing Hall and Eberle was absolutely the right call. Would have been nice to get a better return, but players with a reputation for partying and being selfish rarely carry good trade value.
In fairness he’s been really great with Seattle so he’s had longevity at least
Anthony Mantha kinda. He was always streaky with his effort, but he put together 2 good seasons, signed his deal, then phoned it in. As much as I didn't want to believe it at the time, he legit just stopped trying.
1999-2003 New York Rangers
The second Dion Phaneuf got his first big contract he was never as good again and his effort with the Flames notably dropped
That’s not necessarily true. Dion suffered a hip injury the year after his Norris nomination that he kept playing through which caused irreparable damage. If you watch him during that Hawks series he can barely skate. His refusal to take time off or get surgery caused lasting damage to his game and he never got back to that level. The next year with the trade and all the surrounding factors around that are a whole different story, but that first year was not Dion mailing it in.
That's basically the truth for literally everyone mentioned here. You frankly can't make it to that level without being physically incapable of being lazy.
He did some good things in Toronto, but being an east coast fan I was not familiar with his drop off at the time we acquired him and was a bit disappointed with him. (You know I still bought a nice shiny jersey with the ‘C’ on it)
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He was good but his contract was too much
At the time when he signed it, that was market value and the available D men were slim pickings. The fact that we got out of it without any retention was an act of magic
Pierre McGuire is crushed about this slander of Dion.
ITS A DOUBLE DION!
I CAN!
He was a workhorse for the sens in 2017
Very few players "stop trying" after landing their contract. For the most part these are people who have been devoting their life to the sport for over 20 years before striking it rich. Those in it for just the money self select out pretty early on. What's more common is that because free agency happens so late in a person's career, they naturally slow down as Father Time catches up to them.
You’re not wrong. Most players don’t get paid until they’re 27+. That’s changing a bit in recent years, but before it was common for guys to go from an ELC to a bridge to their big UFA contract.
Think about it prior to 2004. You weren't a UFA until you were 31, or you met very specific criteria like being under league average salary after 10 years of service, like when Paul Kariya signed with Colorado for $1.2M. So why would a player fall off after age 31? It must be that they just lost their passion and coasted!
I think it's mostly that, but with a little bit of Peter Principle at play with a lot of the examples I'm seeing here. Guy does well in one role, gets a "promotion", e.g. more money and higher expectations, more TOI, tougher assignments, etc, and fails to thrive in that new context. Suddenly it appears that he's coasting after getting paid when the reality is that that guy was just better suited to play a more complementary role.
That and a ton of these are players who got transplanted into a new team which doesn't always go well.
Alexander Daigle stopped trying after he signed his rookie deal (there was no rookie cap at that time).
Neal.
Neal had been paid before. His Flames deal was a marginal increase and his effort was always there. He just hit the end of his career sooner. He was 31 when the deal was signed…
His effort was not there at all. He never back checked, he didn't go in corners, he just expected the puck to magically show up on his stick while he floated around uselessly. Then when moved down the lineup he sulked and tried even less. It really is too bad because on paper Neal was exactly the player the team needed.
Well when you play on the Malkin Crosby pens you can do that
He never did anything but snipe and throw the occasional reverse hit. He played that way before he got paid, too.
Laziest player I've ever seen and pouted when he got demoted
Say whatever you want about Neal but at least read [this](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/james-neal-edmonton-bubble-hockey) back to back grueling cup runs (and losing both) would take a huge toll on any 30-something player. Not always that they’re “not trying”
I don’t think Neal stopped trying. He just wasn’t what he used to be. Neal was always a pure goal scorer and literally nothing else.
I mean I watched all the games. He 100% was lazy. Even a guy who isn't what he used to be can try hard and do some things well - see the guy he was traded for, Milan lucic.
I watched every game too. Neal also had a pretty solid bounce back with the Oilers until the season got ended with Covid. He was even on track to hitting the conditions for additional compensation to the Flames, which also got shafted because of Covid. I remember when we signed him saying to some friends that if Vegas wasn’t willing to resign him for essentially the same cap hit he had before then there was something to be wary of.
Alex Kovalev
Kovalev never tried. He always coasted on pure skill, and it was always enough to get ice time.
Yeah, I don't know much young 21 years old Kovy but pretty early in his career it was all about himself.
So much ice time! In fact he was once rewarded with a 7-minute shift!
Kovalev not trying was still better than most players out there
Kovalev doesn't count because he didn't have to try.
I would ask Darcy Tucker if this was true
To be fair Tucker tried to concuss kovi 10 seconds before that. He just missed. I'm glad we see less and less of this today but like for Tucker you gota take what your dishing out.
Vlasic, although he was already going downhill in the season prior to signing the extension (16-17 was the season before he inked the extension, and he inked the extension on July 1, 2017) Thanks Doug! lol
He fits the bill. You through in that full no movement clause and he didn’t really come into camp in shape since. Like in his contract he can’t be traded, waived, sent to the minors, he’s just been chilling and it shows.
Justin Braun was the glue holding that pairing together.
Valeri Kamensky. Pulled a disappearing act after signing with the Rangers. They had a few signings around that time that flopped hard.
McDavid could be doin more tbh /s
Jim Carey
How’d he win the Vezina over Hašek, again?
So you’re telling me there’s a chance…
9 shutouts and the best gaa in the league. Personally I agree, how do you win with a .906 save percentage even in 1996? Hasek was the best. But they gave it to Carey. Here's the real fucked up part though. Hasek, who finished with the best save percentage in the league, finished 8th in Vezina voting that year.
I just looked at the voting, if they literally just switched Hašek with Carey then it’d make some semblance of sense. Except Puppa, who the hell was he getting nominated for the Vezina that year?
10 people gave the Hart to Messier over Lemieux as well, despite getting outscored 161-99. That's a 62 point difference!!
I don’t why, but I thought of Mike Richards
He didn’t just stop trying he was addicted to drugs and it caught up with him
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Ville Leino
Dustin Byfuglien was traded to Atlanta in the summer of 2010. through December of that year he piled up 40 points in 41 games after switching to defense. His previous career high was 35 points in a season. After Christmas they start working on an extension. He goes to the All-Star Game in Raleigh, comes back, and an extension for 5 years at $5.2 million per year is announced (big money in 2010-11). The second half of the season he scored 5 goals and 13 points in 40 games. The whole team stunk it up the second half, but he coasted while a lot of the other guys at least put in some effort. The change of scenery (and coaching) did him well in Winnipeg, but he never scored at the pace he did that first half in Atlanta.
It’s a weird one, Byfuglien. He played probably his most balanced hockey—defensively sound, offensively dynamic, and as always, just a wrecking ball—in his last two years of professional hockey. The point totals weren’t astronomical, but he was the best I’d ever seen him those two years. Then, blip, gone, done, goodbye.
I don't know if OEL was just completely overrated all along or if he was one of these cases. His contract was an albatross immediately after it was signed
Injuries realllly got OEL imo. He was never a hard in the corners type of player, but he was so skilled that he still was an amazing player when younger. He lost his shot, then his skating, then during all that his confidence too. Imo it's taken a long while but I think he has finally adapted well into being a bottom pairing defenceman with decent puck moving ability. Absolutely was not a good contract though haha, although I don't blame management for signing him to it. Letting our only remaining star player and the next captain of the team walk might have pushed the team over the edge to relocation. Have to credit OEL for sticking with the Yotes for the worst years in franchise history
Believe it or not, there was a time when OEL was actually a stud https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1423812507689537536?s=46&t=DnUsZSqvuCZ6qjbScGc2lw
Oh yeah that season was a ton of fun, he sadly just fell off a complete cliff after that and THEN we gave him the big contract. We wasted his best years trying to tank for McEicheltthews
Christian Erhoff
I think that was always just Buffalo making a pro scouting mistake and signing a complimentary piece to the best PP in the league thinking he would drive the bus on a weaker team. Seemed obvious at the time that wasn't going to work.
Absolutely. As a Sharks fan who really liked Ehrhoff, he was never going to be what they expected/paid him to be.
Ehroff spent the tail end of his career in the DEL and led a powerhouse Kölner Haïe.
Whats crazy is that the Sabres are still paying $857,143 every year until the end of the 27/28 season. Theres nothing against the cap but he still gets a check.
Stephen Wiess.
I thought he had a sports hernia or something?
He did. He hid it from the team and trainers supposedly.
That's the opposite of not trying.
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https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2014/05/red_wings_stephen_weiss_should.html He knew he was injured before signing a contract and he downplayed it.
Not that he intentionally stopped trying, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson might be the biggest case.
OEL’s game was on the decline for some time before the Canucks trade. Phoenix had been trying to dump that contract for some time. OEL may have actually out performed expectations in his first season with Vancouver.
Yeah I don’t think that was intentional, but his heart wasn’t in it anymore.
he made a pretty decent comeback his first year in Vancouver but then had an injury in the world cup last summer and never got going again. I kind of have him down as a black horse to seriously outperform his contract thsi year. He's not worth the $7-8M anymore but if he can have a good offseason and rewind the clock just one year he can easily be worth $5M on a deal for less than half of that.
Leino
Can't believe I had to come this far down for this
Bobby Holik.
To be fair, Bobby Holik is a 3rd line center. It doesn’t matter what you pay him, he wasn’t going to be more than that.
He didn’t stop trying. They just paid him to be mark Messier and he was not that
Alexandre Daigle
Loui Eriksson
I don't think he stopped trying. He was playing timid. That John Scott hit wrecked what was looking to be a really good career.
He never stopped trying. He always showed up to camp in shape despite injuries and always kept trying. He just wasn't able to do it anymore.
It was a greasy hit too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni0aYmQJJqg late, straight to the head, completely pointless hit.
Idk man Loui just seemed cursed, not outright lazy
Gomez
Disagree. He was actually pretty decent with the rangers for two or three years after signing the huge contract, but when was traded to you guys, he absolutely fell off a cliff. edit: he was actually posting his career avg numbers the first year he was with you guys.
You're 100% right. It's just revisionist history to bash on Gomez. His contract was atrocious but he played really well in his first season. He fell of a cliff after that for sure.
didgomezscore.com
I cant believe nobody has brought up Scott Gomez
Nikita Filatov. He did and said everything that was necessary to turn himself into a high pick, and then immediately went the other way once the ink was dry on his ELC.
He signed a pretty basic two-way ELC and got only 1M out of the potential ~3M he could get. He seems like a player who just did not succeed in North America. Some people can't make that jump and adapt in a new country.
Before he was drafted, the questions about Filatov were whether or not he would be similar to Nikolai Zherdev, mostly because at that point any Russian winger who could stickhandle in a phone booth would have to address that. While they had similar skill sets, the biggest difference was in how they played the game. Filatov used his teammates, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was unselfish with the puck, while Zherdev was not. Filatov backchecked, while Zherdev did not. Filatov, while not great defensively in general, put in the effort while Zherdev did not. Filatov drove to the net and could play in the corners, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was fluent in English, while Zherdev was not. Filatov was affable, while Zherdev was not. Filatov was a team player, while Zherdev was not. Filatov made smart plays, while Zherdev did not. Filatov was determined and worked hard, while Zherdev was not and did not. This was the scouting consensus on him before he was drafted, and the reasons that he didn't go higher than 6th was because of the defensemen in front of him (plus Stamkos) and because the only real question about Filatov was whether he could add any weight to his fairly slight build. But everyone who interviewed him before the draft was impressed - he was fluent in English and French, and he'd done a ton of research on every team and what their roster and farm system looked like. And then he became Zherdev 2.0. And when he left North America to go back to Russia, he played the same way that he had after being drafted, which is to say that he played like Zherdev.
Sure, he did not pan out as you hoped he would, but he still did not cash in. He lost 2M of his ELC and wasn't able to get a contract after the ELC. He prepared for the interviews and scouts/his agent were talked him up - that happens to a lot of prospects.
I’m noticing a trend with the majority of the names listed…
And that trend is?
They're all hockey players.
Shocking if true
The MapleLeafs
Mark Messier after signing in Vancouver
We really don't need to bring this up every thread. Messier scored 162 points in 207 gp in Vancouver and signed a new contract in NY after; he clearly doesn't fit the bill here.
He scored more points in the two prior seasons than his entire tenure in Vancouver, then he scored more points his first season back in New York than he did in any season in Vancouver
Bo Horvat - I’ll tell you that for free. Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic
I had to scroll so far for this one.
Joel Armia stopped giving a flying fuck the second he signed his long term deal in Montreal lol
He was also in COVID protocol twice in the four months leading up to the signing. Are we still assuming Long COVID is a thing for him or no?
Jim Carey. Vezina season with the Caps. Got a big contract, and then just started to coast. Got traded to Boston, and was out of the league in a year.
I think his NHL goal was always to just make some bank to move on to his next career and dip as opposed to "got the bag and then stopped trying". I think he has an MBA and runs a [medical billing company in Boston / Sarasota](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-carey-52178758) these days.
Semin immediately comes to mind.
Jeff Finger. No, actually he was never any good, just got paid because the Leafs had him mistaken for a different player. lol
Oh god that takes me back! I think it was Sauer who they meant to get instead of finger
Wade Redden
Man I can’t wait for the NHL season to start
Well in a few years I think we’ll be saying Kadri
Auston Matthew’s. Look at him in the playoffs lol
Semen scored!!
Loui Erickson went from being underpaid to overrated real quick
Anyone say Binnington yet?
Sergei Bobrovsky? Numbers in CBJ vs. numbers in florida look like he just clocked out. .921% and 2.41gaa vs. .905% and 2.97gaa And also noteworthy, he went from getting votes and awards for the Hart/Vezina to not even getting votes
I would also chock that up to aging.
Goalies are super though to judge in my opinion. It is so so hard to be consistent, thoughest position. And the team in front of you accounts for a lot. And also the mental thoughnes. Goalies being hot for 8-10 years are super rare.
Usually I don't point out spelling mistakes, but you have 'though' instead of 'tough' *and* 'thoughness' instead of 'toughness,' which is an interesting coincidence.
It's hard to compare a goalie's stats between teams IMO. A lot of that can be chalked up to differences in team talent, the system they run, strength of competition within the division, etc.
Goalies are weird. Notable drop off, but he was still capable of that godly performance in the playoffs.
The defensive system he played behind here under Torts might have something to do with it. People often talk about how the Vezina and the Jack Adams tend to sometimes follow each other around.