Nearly every general manager in the NHL has a contract they'd like to get rid of.
Not including LTIR-eligible players or players signed this summer, here are the current 10 worst deals in the league based on cap hit, term, and expected value over the duration of the contract:
10. Jonathan Quick
Team: Kings
Age: 33
Cap hit: $5.8M
Years left: 4
Signing GM: Dean Lombardi
The 10-year deal Quick signed in 2012 was 100 percent worth it for the Kings. He was coming off his best season and ended up winning a second Stanley Cup two years after.
However, Quick not only just had the worst campaign of his career, but it was a year in which he was one of the worst goalies in the league.
Quick posted an .888 save percentage in 46 games, and while it may seem easy to blame a poor team in front of him, fellow netminders Jack Campbell (.928 in 31 games) and Calvin Petersen (.924 in 11 games) had no issues. As a 33-year-old with lots of mileage who relied on outstanding athleticism, Quick's days as a No. 1 goalie appear to be behind him, but he's being paid as such for four more years.
9. Johnny Boychuk
Team: Islanders
Age: 35
Cap hit: $6M
Years left: 3
Signing GM: Garth Snow
Boychuk's first season with the Islanders in 2014-15 was stellar, but he's fallen off a cliff since then. He doesn't drive play offensively anymore, and last season, he was the worst Isles blue-liner at preventing shot attempts and expected goals. He's a third-pairing defenseman at best right now, and it's only going to get worse from here.
8. Bobby Ryan
Team: Senators
Age: 32
Cap hit: $7.25M
Years left: 3
Signing GM: Bryan Murray
Ryan's contract isn't an issue for the Sens, who need it to get the cap floor, but it'd be a major problem for just about any other team. He can still put up 40 points, so he isn't totally useless, but he's a disaster defensively. He had so much promise with the Anaheim Ducks but has never lived up to the hype in Ottawa.
7. Justin Abdelkader
Team: Red Wings
Age: 32
Cap hit: $4.25M
Years left: 4
Signing GM: Ken Holland
Abdelkader parlayed his first good offensive season – at 27 years old – into a seven-year deal the following year. Good for him, but what was Ken Holland thinking? He hasn't come close to replicating his 20-goal form and has resorted back to being a fourth-line-caliber player, which he was the first five seasons of his career before the breakout campaign.
6. Karl Alzner
Team: Canadiens
Age: 30
Cap hit: $4.625M
Years left: 3
Signing GM: Marc Bergevin
Woof. Alzner was a turnover machine in his first season with the Habs in 2017-18, tallying a career-high 90 giveaways. He was so bad last year he ended up playing more games in the AHL (34) than in the NHL (9). The former fifth overall pick is a seventh defenseman at best but is paid like a top four.
5. Loui Eriksson
Team: Canucks
Age: 34
Cap hit: $6M
Years left: 3
Signing GM: Jim Benning
Eriksson begins the run of regrettable signings inked on July 1, 2016 – the day GMs went mad.