History Lesson! Buffalo Sabres 3 worst contracts since 2010
The Buffalo Sabres have seen over a decade of misery. And reckless spending has contributed to the debacle. Let’s explore the three worst.
Many in the Buffalo Sabres faithful will point to Jeff Skinner when you ask them who signed the worst contract in recent history. Luckily for Skinner, he remains off this list – for now, anyway. Had it not been for a 63-point outing that tied a career-high, I would have most likely just listed Skinner in all three slots and called it an article.
Yes, he was that bad following his massive eight-year, $72 million contract signing in June 2019. Between October 2019 and May 2021, Skinner’s numbers look like this: 112 games, 21 goals, 16 assists, 37 points, and a shooting percentage of 7. He was so bad that he was a healthy scratch multiple times in March 2021.
Fast-forward to August 2022, and Skinner remains on the Sabres first line after a 33-goal season. He played so well that I even listed him as my #1 forward on the Sabres, given both his ability to redeem his play and the fact that he’d been such a solid contributor before his slump that he even represented the Sabres in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game.
So Skinner gets a reprieve here. Unfortunately, a few players listed below do not. Let’s explore their contract situations and why they made my list.
The three worst contracts for the Buffalo Sabres since 2010: Contract #1 – Christian Ehrhoff, D
While many Buffalo Sabres fans think the Skinner contract was a bad one, the Ehrhoff signing has it beaten by a mile. Yes, it was “only” a $40 million contract over 10 seasons, which Ehrhoff signed in June 2011, but difference is that Ehrhoff lasted just three year in the Queen City after he arrived via trade and subsequently signed.
The Sabres had high hopes for the former Norris Trophy contender, and for two seasons, it looked as though Ehrhoff would have lived up to the hype. But when you check out possession metrics, you get a different story regarding Ehrhoff.
In 2011-12, Ehrhoff saw 1,238.2 minutes of total ice time (TOI) with a Corsi For Percentage (CF%) of 50.5 at even strength. This number, however, drops the following season to 49.8 percent – 924.5 TOI at even strength, and it drops even further to just 46.4 in 1,412.1 minutes – a career-low.
Further, on-ice shooting percentage at even strength dropped substantially from 8.9 percent in 2011-12 to just 7.1 percent in 2013-14. Further, goals for while on ice at even strength (oiGF) at even strength also dropped from 58 to 48 over that same span, while goals against while on ice at even strength (oiGA) increased from 57 to 75.
The result? Fast-forward to June 30th, 2014, and the Buffalo Sabres used a compliance buyout to get Ehrhoff out the door. While the buyout does not affect the organization’s salary cap, it does require them to pay Ehrhoff $857,143 per year until 2027-28.
Ville Leino, LW
One day after the Buffalo Sabres linked Ehrhoff, they went out and signed Ville Leino to a $27 million contract over six years. And talk about a one-year wonder, as the then-27-year-old Leino enjoyed a 53 point, 19 goal, and 34 assist outing before his ill-fated signing with the Sabres. Oh, and did I mention he also logged a 16.2 shooting percentage AND a 57.4 percent FOW%?
The latter may be one of a few reasons the Sabres bumped the left winger inside to center, where he just flopped, losing 135 face-offs and scoring an FOW% of just 41.3. In 71 games, he also logged eight goals, 17 assists, and 25 points before he scored six points and two goals in just eight appearances the following season.
In 2013-14, the Sabres finally realized their mistake when Leino went 58 games without scoring a single goal, and had just 15 assists an a FOW% of just 43.6. Overall, his play at center makes Casey Mittelstadt look like a halfway decent player, to put it generously.
Two weeks before the Sabres bought out Ehrhoff, they bought out Leino using a similar compliance buyout. They finished paying off the buyout following the 2019-20 season. How much were the Sabres paying him? $1,222,222 over the buyout’s duration – For a player who scored just 10 goals during his 137-game run in the Queen City.
Cody Hodgson, C
Sigh…what a debacle this one was. The Buffalo Sabres landed the then-rookie Hodgson on February 27th, 2012. Hodgson, who won Rookie of the Month just a month prior in January, also finished eighth for the Calder Trophy.
The next season, Hodgson enjoyed a solid yet unspectacular outing, scoring 34 points, 15 goals, and 19 assists in 48 contests. He logged his first 20-goal season a year later in 2013-14. And in September of that year, the Sabres signed Hodgson to a six-year, $25.5 million contract with an AAV of $4.25 million.
Currently, there are two Buffalo Sabres forwards who I truly believe will evolve into annual stars – Tage Thompson and Victor Olofsson. The Hodgson contract fiasco is one reason I’m heavily pushing for a bridge deal for Thompson – roughly a two-year deal worth between $5 and $6 million as opposed to what Hodgson got. The two-year bridge is also something that Olofsson signed.
This is important to mention, considering Hodgson’s fall from grace in 2014-15, in which he scored a paltry 13 points, six goals, and seven assists in 78 contests. Once again, these are numbers Casey Mittelstadt can pull off in his sleep.
Related Story. 5 worst free agent signings in Sabres history. light
And once again, another buyout, this one occurring in June 2015. On July 1st of that season, Hodgson ended up signing with the Nashville Predators on a one-year prove-it deal. He played in just 39 contests, scoring eight points, three goals, and five assists. He ended up retiring on October 3rd, 2016, at the age of 26.
Article Source: The Best and Worst of Sabres Free Agency by Ryan Wolfe