Top 3 Worst contracts for Edmonton Oilers since 2006
Last Wednesday marked the opening of NHL Free Agency. As soon as the flood gates opened, we saw several teams sign their coveted players. Again, we witnessed a ton of money floated around in order for teams to entice the players to play for their cities, the Edmonton Oilers included.
Year after year, we see these massive transactions, either in dollar values or length of the contracts, or both. Most often, even as we love the players that our team is signing, we question what they are thinking on why they give this player that much money? Sometimes it works out for both players and teams, but as we see time and time again, it holds the team captive for the duration of the contract.
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The Edmonton Oilers Aren’t Immune To Mistakes
In the process of looking back through these contracts signed throughout free agency, we will dig into the past at some of the worst contracts signed by the Edmonton Oilers. Since the turn of the 21st century, Edmonton has not been a destination city for players. The harsh Edmonton weather, accompanied by player taxes makes it hard for the team to land the players they want through free agency.
The Oilers often, just like most Canadian teams, have to offer bigger money and longer contracts just to be able to compete with other teams. Due to salary cap restrictions, that philosophy does not always result in a good way for the team. It hinders them to be able to make additions to improve the team for the next few seasons.
As much as we like seeing the Edmonton Oilers sign star players to play for our city, we hate watching them fail repeatedly. Even though these players that the Oilers signed through free agency might have produced for them on the ice at some point throughout their contract, we also see how heavily they impacted the team negatively.
LW Milan Lucic
On the opening day of free agency back in 2016, the Edmonton Oilers signed free agent power forward Milan Lucic to a seven-year $42 million contract, an annual salary of $6 million. At the time of the signing, we were delighted at the idea of Lucic playing alongside young superstar Connor McDavid. A 6’3 hulking player who was an integral part of the cup-winning Boston Bruins in 2011, Lucic was a welcome addition to the Oilers.
In the first year of the contract, Lucic was able to record 23 goals and 50 points while helping the Oilers reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Although the Edmonton Oilers fell in the 2nd round of the playoffs versus the Anaheim Ducks, it was a successful year for Milan Lucic and the Oilers.
The same cannot be said during the second year of Lucic’s tenure with the Oilers. In the 2017-2018 season, Lucic only managed to net 10 goals and get 34 points. It was a disappointing season for Lucic and the Oilers which left us wondering if that was the start of his decline. Sure enough, it was, as Lucic followed that up with only 6 goals and 20 points.
This prompted the Oilers to ask Lucic to waive his no-movement clause back in 2019. Lucic was then traded to their Alberta’s arch-rival, the Calgary Flames alongside a conditional 2020 third-round pick in exchange for forward James Neal. A lateral move trade, as Neal was also owed an average salary of $6 million as well which provided no cap relief for the Oilers.
LW Dustin Penner
An unpopular signing by the Edmonton Oilers, Dustin Penner was offered by then general manager Kevin Lowe to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent. Fresh from a Stanley Cup win with the Anaheim Ducks, Penner was offered, a five-year $21.25 million contract by the Oilers. This offer was heavily criticized by the media and got the ire of then Ducks’ GM Brian Burke as this ploy has not been normally done by teams.
Eventually, the Ducks were unwilling to match the Oilers’ offer, and Penner became an Oiler. In his first year as an Oiler, Penner performed admirably as he was able to score 23 goals and 47 points. The following season, Dustin Penner had a slow start and was criticized by head coach Craig McTavish who had Penner sitting at the sideline as a healthy scratch. During the 2009 offseason, Penner was part of the blockbuster trade that would have sent him, Andrew Cogliano, and Ladislav Smid to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for star forward, Dany Heatley. However, Heatley exercised his no-trade clause which squashed the trade deal.
It was a roller coaster ride for Dustin Penner and Edmonton throughout his contract. In the 2009-2010 season, although Penner was able to record career highs with 32 goals and 63 points, he was not able to help the team reach the playoffs as the Edmonton Oilers finished dead last in the league.
D Darnell Nurse
A recent signing by the Edmonton Oilers that might prove to be a migraine down the road is defenseman Darnell Nurse. In August 2021, Nurse signed an eight-year $74 million contract extension with the Oilers, with an annual salary of $9.25 million. A massive jump from his previous 2-year bridge deal.
There is no denying the talent of the 6’4 Nurse, as he can put points for the Oilers, the problem is the massive cap hit and the length of the contract that he carries. Without diving deep into Nurse’s defensive stats, we saw how poorly he sometimes plays on his own end. Nurse is getting paid ‘superstar’ money, and he is expected to limit those mistakes and play as a superstar.
Compared Nurse to some fellow superstar defensemen contracts like Cale Makar (6 years $54 million) and Victor Hedman (8 years $63 million) and we are left scratching our heads as to why the Oilers gave that much to him. Those aforementioned defensemen are Norris award winners and Stanley champions and we expect Nurse to play near that plateau as he carries a big chunk of the Oilers’ salary cap.
This massive deal by Nurse might prove cumbersome to Oilers later on as they try to build a Stanley Cup-winning team. Luckily this offseason, general manager Ken Holland was able to maneuver some contracts around, with the recent retirement of defenseman Duncan Keith and putting goalie Mike Smith to LTIR. These situations will not present themselves for the following seasons, and it will be an issue for the Edmonton Oilers.
Next. The First Day Of Free Agency For The Edmonton Oilers. dark