Worst contract in league history?

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DredJAw

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HARTFORD, Conn. - Wade Redden is Glen Sather's Folly. That has become painfully obvious fewer than 60 games into a six-year, $39 million contract that stands as the worst in the history of the NHL, if not in the history of hard-cap pro sports.

With skills declining so precipitously over the last three seasons that if he played baseball, one would deduce that he had built his previously admirable career resume on PED's, the 31-year-old defenseman is the GM's Greatest Mistake.....(more)......


Don't say we didn't warn you....


Not to too my own horn, but I wrote this July 2nd:

DredJAw said:
By Christmas the Rangers will be dredding this deal. Redden had plummetted down the Sens depth chart. Fans are throwing a celebration that he's gone. As a Leaf fan I'm upset he left the Sens. He was an easy d-man to get around, soft, lazy, uninspired, and overpaid.

Halfway through the season last year the Sens stopped putting Redden out with 1 minute left in the game. That tells you everything you need to know about a 6.5M d-man.
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How long can Sather continue to live off of Gretzky's back? It's not just Sather either.... I'm tired of these old Oiler boys (Sather, Lowe, Muckler, etc) who live off those years as if they performed some kind of magic. Wayne has made a lot of other people rich huh?
 
Well he can sit in Hartford for the next 5 years then.. YIKES

That being said

DiPietro's 15 yrs - 68 Mill
Briere's 8yrs - 50 some Mill have to up there
 
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DredJAw said:
How long can Sather continue to live off of Gretzky's back? It's not just Sather either.... I'm tired of these old Oiler boys (Sather, Lowe, Muckler, etc) who live off those years as if they performed some kind of magic. Wayne has made a lot of other people rich huh?
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And they all have pictures of their bosses in compromising situations. :owned:
 
Can we add in Uwe Krupp's $16M contract back in 01/02 (??) or sometime like that???
Ummm - played what 20 games or soemthing after injuring himself doing something foolish in the off-season. Not too many gaffes from Kenny Holland (or was that on Devellano's watch ?) - but that was a doozy. Especially in that time period.

bruce
 
SHedberg said:
Not a great deal, but by no means the worst in NHL history.
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The point is, we are in a capped system... so you can certainly make the argument this is ONE OF if not, THE worst in NHL history.

Holiks, Yashins, etc were grossly overpaid sure but teams weren't restricted to spending only X amount of dollars. At the time the Rangers signed Holik they had a payroll at roughly ~$80 million (they signed kaspariatis that offseason also). They were spending money freely... big deal as there were no reprussions. NOW is completely different.

Wade Redden is making about 10% of a teams total cap payroll. Just put that in perspective.
 
DredJAw said:
The point is, we are in a capped system... so you can certainly make the argument this is ONE OF if not, THE worst in NHL history.

Holiks, Yashins, etc were grossly overpaid sure but teams weren't restricted to spending only X amount of dollars. At the time the Rangers signed Holik they had a payroll at roughly ~$80 million (they signed kaspariatis that offseason also). They were spending money freely... big deal as there were no reprussions. NOW is completely different.

Wade Redden is making about 10% of a teams total cap payroll. Just put that in perspective.
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Didn't Yashin's signing effectively cripple the Isles? I don't remember them making another relevant signing before the lockout and they couldn't move him because of his ludicrous deal.
 
DredJAw said:
The point is, we are in a capped system... so you can certainly make the argument this is ONE OF if not, THE worst in NHL history.

Holiks, Yashins, etc were grossly overpaid sure but teams weren't restricted to spending only X amount of dollars. At the time the Rangers signed Holik they had a payroll at roughly ~$80 million (they signed kaspariatis that offseason also). They were spending money freely... big deal as there were no reprussions. NOW is completely different.

Wade Redden is making about 10% of a teams total cap payroll. Just put that in perspective.
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The Rangers can afford to have him rot in Hartford... if a team like Phoenix or Tampa Bay had signed him to the deal it could be considered one of the worst, but the Rangers can make it disappear pretty easily.
 
SHedberg said:
The Rangers can afford to have him rot in Hartford... if a team like Phoenix or Tampa Bay had signed him to the deal it could be considered one of the worst, but the Rangers can make it disappear pretty easily.
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we need sather to disappear that easily...
 
DredJAw said:
The point is, we are in a capped system... so you can certainly make the argument this is ONE OF if not, THE worst in NHL history.

Holiks, Yashins, etc were grossly overpaid sure but teams weren't restricted to spending only X amount of dollars. At the time the Rangers signed Holik they had a payroll at roughly ~$80 million (they signed kaspariatis that offseason also). They were spending money freely... big deal as there were no reprussions. NOW is completely different.

Wade Redden is making about 10% of a teams total cap payroll. Just put that in perspective.
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Except that Holik's deal was bought out right at the start of the "New NHL" era, so they were on the hook for him for a couple years afterwards.
 
RGM81 said:
Except that Holik's deal was bought out right at the start of the "New NHL" era, so they were on the hook for him for a couple years afterwards.
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No, there was a grace period at the beginning of the cap era, the Rangers were able to buy him out without a cap hit.
 
Redden isn't the worst. Yashin and DiPietro were deals that seemed good, but turned out to be busts (so far). I'd say the worst was LaPointe getting 5.5M. I blame that signing to be the spark for overpaid players leading to the lockout.
 
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Some random comments to chew on:

1) the rags have arguably the best PK in the game

2) They also have one of the best defensive systems

3) However they have one of the worst offensive teams (third lowest in the division)

4) Redden cannot and will not just "disappear", fortunately we CAN afford to have him school the kids of the AHL.....

In summing up the 4 points I posted, it is my opinion that if the rangers offense played up to its ability, we would not be sitting here trying to place blame on a highpriced talent. It is a team sport, the team is bad, not jsut wade redden. Redden was a very good player on the sens for years, as was chara. Chara went to the B's and everyone, EVERYONE, said it was a terrible signing. Chara was too slow, not physical enough, and overpaid. Check and mate for another former senator d man.

Redden has the ability to turn himself around, but first the rangers need to turn it around.

And the dipietro signing is definetly worse. I mean, its not like redden had a history of injuries and we signed him for 10 or 12 years. There was a great upside to signing redden, and still is. Although Id rather not wait and see if it pans out....
 
People can bring up that the Redden, Briere, and DiPietro deals are the worst deals ever but I think it's still to early to start classifying them this way. For all we know DiPi and Briere can bounce back healthy and play all-star caliber hockey for the next how ever many years. I still think it's a little early to judge these contracts but I also don't think contracts for 5 + years should be handed out.
 
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