6 Terrible Contracts NHL Teams Wish Would Disappear

The NHL's salary cap has, with few exceptions, steadily risen since it was implemented in 2005. From $39 million in 2005-06, it's currently at $104 million for 2026-27 and will rise to $113.5 million for 2027-28 .

As the cap rises, so does player salaries as teams use the extra cap dollars to re-sign key players or to bolster their rosters through free agency. It often leads to top talent signing expensive long-term contracts.

In some cases, those contracts will pan out over the long term. In others, teams can end up signing players for far more than their worth.

In those cases, it's because a player isn't achieving the same level of success with a new team as he did with his former club.

Sometimes, it's because a general manager overvalued the player's worth when signing him.

It can also be due to a player struggling to meet expectations that come with an expensive new contract.

Whatever the reason for those bad contracts, they affect the market for players seeking new deals, driving them higher.

Here's a look at six contracts that NHL clubs wish would disappear.

On July 22, 2022, the Calgary Flames acquired Jonathan Huberdeau as part of the return for sending winger Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers. Two weeks later, they signed Huberdeau to an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $10.5 million.

The trade became one of this decade's most lopsided moves. Tkachuk helped the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Final in three straight years, winning back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.

Huberdeau, meanwhile, never regained the offensive heights he reached with the Panthers, including a career-best 115-point campaign in 2021-22. His highest output with the Flames was a 62-point effort in 2024-25.

While Huberdeau's numbers were respectable, they definitely weren't what was expected of a player earning his salary. One reason was that the Flames weren't as talented as the Panthers. Another was a nagging hip condition that shortened his 2025-26 season and has kept him sidelined thus far this season.

The sharp rise of the salary cap and the Flames' current rebuilding process make his contract less burdensome for the club. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old left winger is unlikely to return to the high-scoring form of his days with the Panthers. He remains among the league's most overpaid players.

On July 1, 2024, the Boston Bruins made one of the summer's biggest signings, inking Elias Lindholm to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract . He was the top center in the market that year and was expected to fill the void left by the retirements of long-time Bruins centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

Lindholm wasn't a superstar like Bergeron. Nevertheless, his strong two-way game made him a star during his five-plus seasons with the Calgary Flames. That included three seasons with 64-plus points, including a career-high 82 points in 2021-22.

However, Lindholm struggled to regain his solid two-way game during his first two seasons with the Bruins. He saw time on the top-two lines, including with superstar winger David Pastrnak, but his production was below 50 points, although an injury hampered his performance last season.

The 31-year-old Lindholm has shown promising improvement so far this season, sitting second among the Bruins with 14 points. However, if his production drops off again and his defensive struggles return, his contract will continue to be a regrettable one for Bruins management.

Days before the March 3, 2023 NHL trade deadline, the New Jersey Devils made one of the biggest moves of 2022-23. On Feb. 26, they acquired winger Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks in a multi-player deal usually seen during the offseason in today's salary-cap world.

Four months later, the Devils signed Meier, who was slated to become a restricted free agent that summer, to an eight-year contract worth an average annual value of $8.8 million.

At the time, it seemed like a good deal. Meier was (and still is) a physical, versatile two-way forward who can play either wing. He reached the 30-goal plateau twice and had a career-high 40 goals split between the Devils and San Jose Sharks in '22-'23.

However, Meier's production has declined since joining the Devils. He's still among their top-six forwards , but he's not producing at the level expected of a power forward with his annual salary. At his current pace, his contract will not age well over the remaining term.

From the day Darnell Nurse signed his eight-year, $74 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on Aug. 6, 2021, the team's fans increasingly wished it would disappear. A solid second-pairing defenseman, he put up decent offensive numbers, but he wasn't going to reach the level expected of a top-pairing defenseman .

Oilers fans got their wish on July 1, when the Oilers traded Nurse and his $9.25 million average annual value through 2029-30 to the San Jose Sharks. Lacking experienced blueline depth, the Sharks had the cap space to take on his contract, hoping that he could improve their defense.

The Sharks still have plenty of projected salary-cap space going forward with Nurse on their payroll. They obviously valued the veteran presence and leadership that he was bringing to their young blue line.

However, Nurse is still plagued by the defensive issues that drew criticism during his Edmonton days. Now 31, any hope that a change of scenery could improve his performance will likely fade as the season goes on, which could leave Sharks fans wishing his contract would go away.

When the Vancouver Canucks signed Elias Pettersson to an eight-year extension on March 2, 2024, he was considered an emerging young superstar worthy of an $11.6 million average annual value.

Pettersson had a career-high 102-point performance in 2022-23, and while his production dropped to 89 points the following season, he was still considered an elite player. His strong two-way play helped the Canucks finish that season with their third-best record in franchise history (109 points).

Over the next two years, however, Pettersson's performance declined significantly, partly because he was clashing with teammate J.T. Miller. Trading Miller to the New York Rangers in January 2025 did nothing to help Pettersson regain his form.

Now 27, Pettersson has improved this season , averaging a point per game with the rebuilding Canucks. Whether he maintains that effort throughout this season remains to be seen.

Pettersson's improvement might entice another club to make a reasonable trade offer to the Canucks. If so, they could jump on it to bring in young assets that fit within their rebuilding plans while clearing his contract from their books.

The Seattle Kraken signed Chandler Stephenson on July 1, 2024, to a seven-year contract with a $6.25 million average annual value. They hoped the two-time Stanley Cup champion would provide experienced depth and scoring to their top-six forward lines.

At the time, Stephenson was coming off a solid three-year stretch with the Vegas Golden Knights. Frequently skating alongside stars like Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Jonathan Marchessault, he had two seasons with 64-65 points and a 51-point campaign in 2023-24.

However, he wasn't skating with players of that caliber with the Kraken, and he hasn't regained the 65-point level he had during his best seasons in Las Vegas. His defensive game also suffered.

On a better team, Stephenson would be a third-line forward. On the offensively anemic Kraken, he's being paid like a second-liner, but he has struggled over the past two years to meet the expectations that come with his contract.

Stephenson is off to a good start this season, with 12 points while skating on the Kraken's second line . However, he's now 32, and it's unlikely he can maintain that pace for long.

Stats via NHL.com , contract info via PuckPedia , and line combinations via Daily Faceoff .