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Hotstove: Worst Free Agent Signings?

July 6, 2014, 1:22 PM ET [40 Comments]
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Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.

A few days ago, we hit part one of a two-part look into the free agent signings of this summer. I gave a handful of players who I thought were underpaid relative to their potential impact going forward. It bears repeating that I think one of the biggest myths about NHL free agency is that it's an overpayment fest. Basically every season, we see valuable players signed to pennies on the dollar, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that NHL GMs still are unsure what's worth buying, and what's not.

That said, there are obviously some horrible decisions made every summer, and this year wasn't any exception. Like a few days ago, I'll break it down by position, and outline some of the moves I hated from the past week.

At forward, it really starts with Dale Tallon's head-scratching offer to Dave Bolland. I wrote about this at length over at The Sporting News, the larger point being that I'm not entirely sure Dave Bolland isn't the most overrated hockey player of the last decade. I can't see anything he does particularly well, and he's coming off of a notoriously debilitating injury that could very well impair his skating down the road. $27.5MM for a guy who can't separate from a pack of players like Joey Crabb, Chris Kelly, and Colin Wilson is ... not a good idea.

Deryk Engelland was probably the runner-up here. If Bolland is just about replacement level, Engelland's right on the line. And the Flames gave him $3MM AAV over the next three seasons. Other than the fact that he has experience playing at both forward and defense, I'm not sure what there is to like about the player.

At defense, the Brooks Orpik signing by Washington was just shockingly bad. Orpik hasn't been very good for a few years now -- he's a combination of 'not agile enough' and 'can't move the puck enough'. He's earned this reputation as a crease-clearer and shutdown defenseman (categorically untrue, mind you) or something, but the fact that Washington gave the 33-year old a five-year, $27.5MM deal. Russian Machine Never Breaks called it insane, and I'm inclined to agree. The funny thing will be seeing how many other Washington defensemen out-play him over the five years he's signed.

Conversely, I liked the Niskanen signing by the Capitals.

In net, was there anything too objectionable yet? The Ryan Miller contract was big/costly, but I don't loathe it like the deals above. It's probably going to end up being whoever signs Martin Brodeur, a .903 SV% guy for four years running now. Not because they're going to overpay him, but because Brodeur's waiting on a team that's dumb enough to give him 30-40+ starts in a season. Which is mostly playoff contending suicide.

You?

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