The NHL’s free-agent signing period opened on Tuesday, and while there were some very good contracts handed out, there were also some very questionable deals. Here we are going to take a look at five of the worst from Tuesday’s signings.
Ryan Lindgren, Seattle Kraken (four years, $18 million)
There is honestly not much that makes sense about the Seattle Kraken’s roster construction. They entered the offseason desperate for offense, but their first big move of the summer was to sign Lindgren to a long-term contract. There was a time when Lindgren was a very good defensive player. Those days have since passed, and over the past year, both the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche decided he was no longer good enough to play for them.
Somehow Seattle did not get that memo and locked him into a long-term deal.
This is not going to get the Kraken any closer to a playoff spot.
Cody Ceci, Los Angeles Kings (four years, $14.5 million)
Ken Holland’s first offseason in charge of running the Kings did not get off to a good start on Tuesday.
He is taking over a team that has lost to the Edmonton Oilers four years in a row in the first round, has a need for more finishing talent at forward and only made a couple of smaller, depth forward signings that are not going to move the needle for them offensively. But that wasn’t the worst part of the day.
The worst part of the day is what he did to the defense.
The first head-scratcher was signing Ceci to a long-term deal to help make up for the departure of free agent Vladislav Gavrikov.
This is not going to accomplish that goal. At his best, Ceci is probably a capable third-pairing defenseman. If that is how the Kings use him, they are badly overpaying him. If they try to play him higher up in the lineup, they are making a terrible hockey decision. This is just a poorly thought-out signing that does not help the Kings get better in any way.
Brian Dumoulin, Los Angeles Kings (three years, $12 million)
Making matters worse for the Kings is that Ceci wasn’t the only questionable defensive signing of the day.
It was compounded by signing Dumoulin to a separate multiyear deal.
At his peak, Dumoulin was an outstanding shutdown defenseman and played a huge role on two Stanley Cup winning teams in Pittsburgh. But his play has declined over the years, and committing over $8 million per season to Ceci and Dumoulin — while letting Gavrikov walk out the door at $7 million per season — just seems like terrible asset management and cap management by the Kings.
Tanner Jeannot, Boston Bruins (five years, $17 million)
The Bruins started the day by making a really smart move to acquire forward Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers in a trade.
Then they followed it up with a really questionable move by signing Jeannot to a five-year contract worth $17 million.
It has to be especially maddening for Bruins fans because they probably could have just re-signed Brad Marchand and kept him in Boston while also making the team better.
Jeannot is a fourth-line forward who simply doesn’t score enough goals or provide enough offense to justify a five-year contract. This screams of a team desperately trying to match Florida in the physical department. It will not work.
Mikael Granlund, Anaheim Ducks (three years, $21 million)
Granlund did a great job rejuvenating his career in San Jose and Dallas over the past two years, and he parlayed that into a three-year contract worth $7 million per season in Anaheim.
It’s not a contract that is likely to pan out.
A lot of Granlund’s production in San Jose was the result of him getting top-line minutes and top power play time. Somebody had to get the points on a bad team, and he just happened to get the most minutes. When he got to Dallas, his production dropped with his ice-time going down, and he’s going to turn 34 years old this season. He’s not likely to keep scoring the way he did in San Jose, and he doesn’t do enough away from the puck to make up for that.
