Huberdeau Contract Ranked NHL’s Worst for Third Straight Year

Jonathan Huberdeau still owns the worst contract in hockey.

Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic rolled out his annual ranking of the NHL’s 10 worst deals on July 23, and the Calgary winger sits at No. 1 for a third year in a row. He has five seasons left at a $10.5 million cap hit.

The model puts a hard number on it. Huberdeau’s projected surplus value comes in at minus-$32 million, and his odds of the deal ever turning positive sit at 1 percent.

Here is how Luszczyszyn introduced the list:

Leo Carlsson is the newest name near the top. The Ducks center debuts at No. 4 on an $18 million AAV, roughly $5 million a year more than the model says he is worth right now, which works out to a minus-$25 million shortfall and a 6 percent chance of positive value.

Luszczyszyn does not call the decision a mistake. He still thinks Anaheim was right to match the offer sheet rather than hand over the first-round picks attached to it, even with the contract landing this high.

Edmonton is the only team on the list twice. Trent Frederic ranks sixth at $3.9 million and Jake Walman seventh at $7 million, both with seven years to go.

Neither one is a star deal gone bad. They are depth contracts stretched out on term because the Oilers have no room left once McDavid and Draisaitl are paid.

Take a look at the full top 10:

That same model handed out better news a day earlier, when Lane Hutson’s extension in Montreal ranked as the best value deal in the league.

Huberdeau has five more years in Calgary to move himself off the top of this one.