Ranking the 10 Worst NHL Contracts on the Books for the 2026-27 Season

Nothing gets fans more excited, but also fills them with dread, the way free agency does. The excitement comes from seeing players join new teams, but the flip side is how much it'll cost them, which can become a source of angst thanks to the salary cap.

This summer has helped prove that special kind of duality to be true. As fun as it's been to see players head to new teams and change their looks, some of the deals inked have knocked everyone's socks off. Some of them even helped us wonder if they're among the worst contracts in the league.

With that kind of inspiration, how could we not rank out the worst contracts in the NHL? After seeing how much money we have thrown around, it was hard not to do that. Anything that's been committed counts, even if those contracts don't technically begin until next season. If a pen's been put to paper, it can land on our list.

10. Jordan Binington, St. Louis Blues

Ric Tapia/Getty Images

We came really close to slotting Sergei Bobrovsky's new three-year, $21 million deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs here, but there's a certain leeway that comes with winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. While Jordan Binnington has a Stanley Cup of his own, his six-year, $36 million extension that came out of that hasn't paid off well for the Blues.

Binnington is headed into the final year of that six-year deal, and after being in trade rumors for years because of it, that he's reached the finish line of the contract and hasn't moved elsewhere is pretty impressive in its own right. His hot-and-cold play helped lead to those rumors, and his hot temper made him an easy target for fans to pick on. Other goalies have higher price tags, but their steadier play keeps them off a list like this.

9. Timo Meier, New Jersey Devils

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The Devils are a fascinating team because they've got a host of juicy contracts that draw our attention, but it's Timo Meier's eight-year, $70.4 million deal that he's entering his fourth year of that landed him on our list. With an $8.8 million cap hit for the big Swiss winger, there are high offensive expectations that come with it, which he hasn't quite met.

Over the past three years in New Jersey, Meier has been good for 20+ goals and 50-60 points per season. He'd previously been a 30-40-goal player for the San Jose Sharks, and the hope was that by coming to the Devils, he'd slide in next to Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier and continue doing so. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. Meier's been a solid, consistent player, but with a big contract like he's got, more is needed.

8. Jacob Trouba, San Jose Sharks

Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

We all knew the Sharks were going to go hard on defensemen this summer, and they certainly did. We were a bit surprised to see the four-year, $33 million deal they inked with Jacob Trouba, however.

Trouba, known for his physical play, defensive presence, and leadership, getting $8.25 million per season, caught everyone off guard. That kind of payday for a player who's a steady 30-to-40-point defenseman when healthy is at the higher end of the scale, but when you factor in that he's 32 years old, it's hard not to think it's a fair bit of a risk.

That said, the Sharks' overall youth is in need of veteran players and leaders like Trouba, so you can factor the price tag into that if you want, but if the results aren't there on the ice, this price tag, when it's time to extend Macklin Celebrini, will stick out.

7. J.T. Miller, New York Rangers

Elsa/Getty Images

There was a time with the Vancouver Canucks when J.T. Miller was a big-time point producer and a defensive menace with his edgy play. But the seven-year, $56 million extension he signed there aged poorly for a multitude of reasons on and off the ice. Now that he's back with the New York Rangers, that's up to them to figure that out.

As he wears the "C" in New York, the expectation is that Miller can lead the Rangers with the style of play that made him so good with the Canucks. If he's doing that as a point-per-game player and as someone who plays in all situations, his $8 million cap hit is fine. But if you view that through the lens of him needing to be a 90- to 100-point player like he was with the Canucks, it'll be really difficult to manage those expectations. Now that he's 33 years old, keeping up the pace offensively and physically might be a lot to ask of Miller.

6. Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild

Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images

You'd think Kirill Kaprizov, with an eight-year, $136 million contract, might rank even higher on a list like this, but given he's scored 40 or more goals four times in six seasons, he gets a little bit of a pass.

Naturally gifted offensive talents like Kaprizov are rare, and when Wild GM Bill Guerin considered the possibility of his superstar winger entering free agency, he went hard to make sure that wouldn't happen. Signing Kaprizov to what was, in a way, the most lucrative contract in the NHL made sense but also blew everyone's hair back.

Now that Leo Carlsson's new deal is in place, it's helped make Kaprizov's contract look a fair bit better by comparison, in its own weird way.

5. Darnell Nurse, San Jose Sharks

Leila Devlin/Getty Images

Unlike the previous Sharks contract on this list, the money involved in Darnell Nurse's deal isn't San Jose's doing.

The Oilers signed Nurse to an eight-year, $74 million extension back in 2021 and set a standard for defensemen that helped raise the bar, contract-wise. He's been a steady two-way blue liner throughout his career, who suddenly became paid like a top point producer. Playing in Edmonton with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should've naturally led to more points, but that was never the style of game Nurse played.

Had Nurse not been paid so well, there's a good chance he'd still be with the Oilers, but with costs rising for all the stars in Edmonton and the Sharks' desperate need for defensive help, Nurse landing on the West Coast makes sense.

4. Jonathan Huberdeau, Calgary Flames

Leah Hennel/Getty Images

Feels weird to even still talk about Jonathan Huberdeau's contract after all the money we've seen thrown around in the past year or so, but his eight-year, $84 million contract is still one of the worst out there.

Huberdeau signed his extension with Calgary back in 2022, shortly after he was traded from Florida for Matthew Tkachuk, and with a $10.5 million cap hit and fresh off a 115-point season in Florida, he's yet to come close to equaling that output with the Flames. In four seasons in Calgary, Huberdeau has 194 points in 291 games.

Safe to say the Flames expected a lot more for their money, and while Huberdeau is still a solid player, he hasn't performed up to the standard set by his contract.

3. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks

Leila Devlin/Getty Images

It's been really hard to see how things have changed with Elias Pettersson in Vancouver. A player who was once so brilliant and creative offensively, now so much less than that, is difficult enough; now that he's a few seasons deep into his eight-year, $92.8 million extension, it's rough.

Pettersson's $11.6 million cap hit is among the highest in the NHL, and the past two seasons have seen injuries and the overall state of the Canucks affect his play to the point he's been reduced to 96 points (30 goals) in 138 games over that time. It was four years ago that he had 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games during the 2022-2023 season alone.

It's no wonder his name has been in trade rumors, but with that cap hit and that total lack of production, he's almost untradeable at that price. That said, if someone did take the plunge, he's a prime candidate to break out in a new location.

2. Bowen Byram, Chicago Blackhawks

Rebecca Villagracia/Getty Images

Bowen Byram inking the most lucrative deal for a defenseman in the NHL is a title he'll hold until Cale Makar signs his extension with Colorado, but his six-year, $75 million extension with the Chicago Blackhawks still sent shockwaves through the league, nonetheless.

Coming in with a cool $12.5 million cap hit, Byram set a new standard for defensemen as the Blackhawks got out in front to ensure he wouldn't test free agency next summer. Although Byram hasn't been a No. 1 defenseman in the league yet, he will be with Chicago, and now the pressure is on to start living up to that standard before his contract officially kicks in for the 2027-2028 season.

If Byram can help spark Connor Bedard and the rest of the team into making the playoffs, chances are no one in Chicago will care what the deal is worth.

1. Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Any time a contract is signed and upends how players are paid, it's a moment that makes us all step back and reassess how business is done. That's what happened with Leo Carlsson's new deal with the Ducks (via the Philadelphia Flyers).

Carlsson's five-year, $90 million offer sheet from the Flyers, which the Ducks matched this week, changed the negotiation landscape for young players for good. As much as Kirill Kaprizov's new deal with the Wild made us all wonder what they were thinking, it was more or less viewed as a standalone type of re-signing. Carlsson, going for $18 million per season, coming off his entry-level deal, will change how other young stars (and potential stars) negotiate from now on.

While not every young player is going to sign a landmark new deal, you'd better believe they'll be emboldened to ask for more when it's time to negotiate, all while the threat of an offer sheet could blow up a team's plans.

If Carlsson can live up to the contract he signed, the Ducks will be all the better for it, but the bar is now set in outer space for him to clear and for Anaheim to feel like they've completely made the right call.