Ranking the Worst 2025 NHL Free-Agency Signings So Far

Even though NHL Free Agency is always one of the most anticipated and exciting times during the offseason, the joy that comes with scoring a big-time player is always countered by the ones that leave you scratching your head.

Whether it’s because a player is a bad fit for a team, signed for too many years, or got paid way more than a team could really afford, you usually know it the second you see it.

With NHL training camps opening next month (!!!), we’re going to look back on the signings that made us wince the hardest. The ones that brought an audible, “OOF” from our guts. We’d call them cringe, but that would be cringe-worthy for poor use. But regardless of all that, these were the worst of the bunch and to top it off, we’re ranking them out.

On the upside, there weren’t a ton of signings to really bury, but on the downside, the ones that earned the recognition ran away with it.

10. Jake Allen, New Jersey Devils

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Contract terms: Re-signed for five years, $9 million ($1.8 million AAV)

A veteran like Jake Allen is a good player to have around, whether a team has a young guy making his way into the league or another veteran who needs a backup to provide quality starts when they need a night off.

Allen more than qualifies for all of that and he's a solid guy to have around. But at 34 years old, did the Devils need to lock him in for five years? The cap hit is fine and the money is more than palatable, but five years is a lot for a backup!

Over the past couple of years, the Devils' goalie prospect depth has thinned out what with Akira Schmid getting traded to Vegas last summer and Nico Daws doing his best to hang in there in the AHL with Utica while battling injuries.

Retaining Allen allows them to let Daws continue to learn and recover. It also gives Jacob Markström someone steady to lean on.

But five years?

9. Ryan Lindgren, Seattle Kraken

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Contract terms: Signed for four years, $18.5 million ($4.5 million AAV)

There's a lot to like about defenseman Ryan Lindgren's game. He puts his body on the line every night for his team by playing physically and blocking shots. He's tough as nails and plays the style of game that earns the respect of everyone.

That style of play has also led to him missing a lot of time off the ice with various injuries and has slowed him down a little bit in recent seasons. Last year, the New York Rangers dealt him to Colorado, where he did his part to help steady the Avalanche's blue line.

Now that he's headed to Seattle, we know they'll want him to play the same kind of role for coach Lane Lambert, but we're left wondering what the proper fit will be for him there. That they locked him in for four years after putting on such hard miles in New York shows they've either got a lot of faith in him or they were desperate to have someone else there to balance out the active offensive play of Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn on defense.

The injuries are the most worrisome thing, even though he's made it part of his reputation to come back a lot quicker than anyone thought he would. But if the dip in play recently is for real and not a reflection of the Rangers as a whole, that'll feel like a long four years.

8. Brian Dumoulin, Los Angeles Kings

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Contract terms: Signed for three years, $12 million ($4 million AAV)

New Kings GM Ken Holland made it a point to try and strengthen the team's defense this summer, and after working so long with the Edmonton Oilers, who keep beating the Kings in the playoffs, you'd think he would know best who to get. It's what made signing Brian Dumoulin to a three-year deal so fascinating.

Dumoulin is a solid veteran and he's won the Stanley Cup previously with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's steady, although at 33 years old, time has a way of winning out over the body and the mind. Throughout his career, he's been a solid possession player, even if the point totals aren't impressive.

The Kings lost Vladislav Gavrikov to free agency and traded Jordan Spence to Ottawa. Those losses meant LA needed better to insulate young blue liner Brandt Clarke in the lineup. Dumoulin will help that, sure, but the setup on the Kings' left side of the defense makes for a funky mix.

Mikey Anderson will stay with Drew Doughty on the top pair, but how Dumoulin and Joel Edmundson work with righties Clarke and Cody Ceci doesn't inspire a lot of hope for improvement against the likes of the Oilers.

7. Ivan Provorov, Columbus Blue Jackets

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Contract terms: Signed for seven years, $59.5 million ($8.5 million AAV)

We know there was a lot of money to be had on the free agent market and that if you were a top defenseman, you'd probably be able to pull down big money from someone. Ivan Provorov certainly would've qualified as such, but it just happened that he was already on a team that needed defensive help and had a lot of money to spend.

That convenient situation worked out for Provorov with the massive deal he signed with the Blue Jackets. Columbus GM Don Waddell wasn't necessarily bidding against himself, but following the massive deal they gave to Damon Severson two years ago with an even more expensive, albeit a year shorter, contract this year.

Provorov is fine. He moves the puck well, has a decent shot and he's versatile in that he can play the left or right side. He's never been a strong possession player, however, and for $8.5 million a year (that's $1 million less than Norris Trophy candidate Zach Werenski), it's not wrong to expect a lot more than that.

Yes, the NHL economy is changing and the cap is going up and all of that, we get it, but this feels like a deal the Jackets got done to make sure they didn't have to compete with anyone else to retain him. Mission accomplished.

6. Trent Frederic, Edmonton Oilers

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Contract terms: Signed for eight years, $30.8 million ($3.85 million AAV)

At last season's trade deadline, Trent Frederic was one of the players we were focused on because it seemed wild that the Boston Bruins would move him, given his rugged style of play fits them perfectly. Impending free agency changes minds, however, and the Oilers were eager to snap him up for their playoff run.

Frederic was a natural fit in Edmonton and brought the same toughness and physical play to the lineup once he returned from injury. Third-and-fourth-line players like him are almost necessary for teams looking to go deep in the postseason, but players in those positions rarely sign maximum-length contracts, too.

Frederic getting an eight-year deal from the Oilers knocked everyone for a loop, but also managed to get a lot of people to say, "Yeah, that's not a surprise they did that." He's a good player, physical, forechecks well and has an edge, but guys like that don't generally land contracts that long for nearly $4 million a year.

5. Tanner Jeannot, Boston Bruins

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Contract terms: Signed for five years, $17 million ($3.4 million AAV)

What's fascinating about the Bruins is that there are guys who play physical and tough that you just know are the kinds of players they love to have and Tanner Jeannot fits that description perfectly. He's big, he hits hard and in his rookie season with Nashville, he scored 24 goals and set a bar that teams that have added him since have tried to get him to reach again.

In the three seasons since then, he's scored 20 goals, but he continues to play a hard, physical game and that's what's drawn the Bruins' attention to him. When they traded Trent Frederic to Edmonton ahead of the deadline, they missed having someone who mucks it up around the net.

As wild as the eight-year deal the Oilers gave Frederic was, the Bruins, in the state they're in, giving five to Jeannot is even more incredible.

If Jeannot taps back into the puck luck that allowed him to bag 24 goals his first season, this contract is a steal. But it's been three years and he's yet to score as many goals in that time as he did that season. It doesn't seem likely, but what is likely is how busy Jeannot will be, physically speaking, dealing with the Tkachuk brothers in the Atlantic Division.

4. Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers

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Contract terms: Re-signed for eight years, $64 million ($8 million AAV)

Listen, we all knew Sam Bennett was going to sign a massive new contract when the Florida Panthers' playoff run was over. We also knew it would be a lot more costly if the Panthers won the Stanley Cup and when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP, yeah, that's even more money.

We can throw the regular season stats at this one all we want to and say, "This is a terrible contract," but then you think back on how he performed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons and it makes it a bit easier to justify the cost in your mind. On paper, however, it's a bit more difficult.

Aaron Ekblad taking a team-friendly deal to re-sign in Florida helped free up the money to make sure Bennett didn't hit free agency and that's a good thing because otherwise it would've been someone like Toronto ponying up this kind of money for him, which would've made a list like this a lot spicier.

But the now isn't what you worry about with a contract like this; it's the later, and with the way Bennett plays, the chances of this contract aging well don't seem great. Then again, if the Panthers keep lifting the Cup in June and Bennett helps them do it by being a menace everywhere on the ice, who cares, right? Banners fly forever.

3. Alexander Romanov, New York Islanders

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Contract terms: Re-signed for eight years, $50 million ($6.25 million AAV)

The Islanders' offseason was a peculiar one. Getting to draft defenseman Matthew Schaefer No. 1 overall in the draft was outstanding, but more or less being forced to trade former top blue liner Noah Dobson was a bit of a downer, given they moved him within the conference to the Montréal Canadiens, but they avoided having to pay him a fortune to stay.

Instead, they paid Alexander Romanov a boatload to stay on Long Island and continue to be a gutsy defensive defenseman. He delivers big hits routinely and plays a physical game. He's also a strong shot blocker and plays a mean game in his own end of the ice.

That Romanov locked down an eight-year deal at more than $6 million AAV shows how valuable the Islanders felt he was, but it was the kind of contract that made people wonder if Lou Lamoriello was still the GM instead of Mathieu Darche. Don't get it twisted, we like Romanov's game a lot, but that's a high price to pay right now. His offensive numbers were trending up last season and despite missing 18 games, he nearly met his career high for goals and points.

With Schaefer coming into the fold eventually, you have to wonder if those offensive opportunities will still be there for Romanov or if he'll be asked to lean more into his natural style.

2. Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers

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Contract terms: Re-signed for six years, $31.5 million ($5.25 million AAV)

We all knew Brad Marchand was going to stay with the Florida Panthers, particularly after he helped them win their second straight Stanley Cup.

After the way Marchand blended in so well with the guys in Florida and made a seamless transition into the team mix, it was impossible to think he'd go anywhere else, though and he didn't. What was most stunning, however, was that at 37 years old, he signed a six-year deal.

Guys past the age of 35 just don't do things like that anymore, mostly because the league helped make it awkward for teams to do that years ago with the new CBA. Deals like this just don't happen anymore because they were inherently too risky due to the players' age and how their health generally degrades with time.

Throughout his career, Marchand has been generally a very healthy player and he's scored 20-or-more goals in 14 of his 15 seasons in the league and the one year he didn't was the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season, when he had 18 in 45 games.

Marchand is a great player, a future Hall of Famer to be quite frank about it, and doubting him is the quickest way to ensure being proven wrong, but if he's still going like this at 43 years old when the contract is up, it'll be a stupendous surprise.

1. Cody Ceci, Los Angeles Kings

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Contract terms: Signed for four years, $18 million ($4.5 million AAV)

When the Kings signed Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to shore up their defense this summer, the main question we had was: What are they thinking? Dumoulin, we spoke about earlier and even though we don't get the contract, we understand the player. In Ceci's case, we're at a loss for both.

Maybe it was bad luck in how we watched the playoffs, or maybe it's the way things went because that's just the way it was, but it seemed like any time we saw Nathan MacKinnon, Kyle Connor, or Connor McDavid blowing the doors off a Dallas defenseman, it happened to be Ceci and Esa Lindell.

Ceci had the lowest advanced stats among all Stars defensemen in the postseason and it has a lot to do with how, when Dallas was on the road, opposing teams made sure their top guys were on the ice against Ceci and Lindell. The thing is, this is what opposing teams did to Ceci in the postseason when he was with the Oilers and Penguins previously.

If Ceci is paired with someone strong defensively in Los Angeles, and they've got a few guys who can do that, it can work out a bit better. But giving him a four-year contract, given his track record and how it's worked out, is stunning. Then again, it was Ken Holland who signed him in Edmonton back in 2021 and that he circled back to add him again to another four-year contract in Los Angeles is genuinely amazing.