Dumb Contracts

1) As we usually see this time of year, teams are extending and giving out ridiculous contracts to players. Now some of those players are deserving of good money, but sometimes the amount is either well in excess of what we feel is deserved or more likely the length of the contract is absurd.  Its way early in the UFA sweep stakes and its quite likely we'll hear some even more nonsensical signings very shortly, but thus far here are  afew of the deals that we feel are nuts.

• Jordan Staal: 10 years 60 million: Now we have nothing against Jordan, he's a nice 3rd, possibly 2nd line center, but 6 million for a decade?  Only if he becomes a 30 goal, 70 point guy will this deal pay off. Else, and we feel likely it will, be looked upon the day the canes were fleeced by the Penguins.  Not only did the Canes saddles themselves up to a long term deal to a player who has yet to show he deserves it, but they gave up a prety decent assett (8th overall pick) to do so when the Pens knew that Staal would leave at season's end anyway.  In addition his durability is questionable, which potentially could really make this deal look bad 
• Jon Quick 10 years 58 million. Now, we understand he won the Conn Smyth, and was a Vezina finalist, but do GM's never learn from the past?  Goalies should NEVER, with a capital 'N' be given anymore than a 3 year contract!  5 is dumb, and 10 is insane!  Imagine the Canadiens gave Jose Theodore a 10 year deal after he won the Hart as league MVP in 2002?  He was never as good as he was that year despite still being in the league, and certainly wouldn't get top money like Quick will be getting for the next 10 seasons!  Jon deserved the 5.8 million yes, but for 3 years. If he stayed at that level then he would get a deserved raise to probably 6.5, but if he starts to look mediocre he would deserve less. Its a BIG gamble to expect Quick to play at this past season's level for so long!  History certainly says its unlikely! 
•   Dennis Wideman: 5 years, 26 million.   A 5.2 millioon cap hit for a guy who is NOT a top 2 defensemen despite the inflated offensive numbers. In the second half of the season his offense dissapeared and he became a defensive liability to the point where he was the #5 defensemen on the Caps in the post season.  Calgary appears to have made the deal based more on the stat sheet and less based upon in-person scouting. They will be disapinted with their purchase

2) Now, as of this writing the big fish are still swimming out there. By that we mean Parise, Suter and to some extent Alex Semin. Of the 3 we believe that Semin' will be the one most likely to be added to our list of Dumb Contracts. Anyone who gives the 'enigmatic Russian' more than 10 million for 2 seasons is 'dumb'. We think clubs competing for Parise will wait to offer Semin a deal until they lose out on the Parise sweepstakes. As for Zac, we like him, and he's NOT Scott Gomez, but he's NOT a super star talent either. He has scored 30+ 5 times (eclipsing 40 once 3 years ago) so a team could antipate a 35 goal 75 point output from the LW.  With a dearth of talent avaulable and at least 10 serious suitors, he will probably get a double digit long deal possibly eclipsing the 100 million mark if extra years are tagged on.  Suter, as the best defensemen available, will also likely get full term and dollar and like his buddy, Parise is a top player, BUT not a super star who is set to make 'super star money'.  We don't think the teams that sign Parise or Suter will necessarily regret their choice, (unlike the Semin/Wideman/Staal deals) but we feel they are overpaying nonetheless, while the others will be handcuffed to these players.