Did the Toronto Maple Leafs make the single worst UFA signing of the summer?

Full disclosure: if I was running the Toronto Maple Leafs I would have massively overpaid to get Nikita Zadorov on the roster.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had interest, but Zadorov ultimately went to the Boston Bruins. The reason I wanted him is because he's not only huge and a great shut-down defender, but he can also rush and move the puck. I think he's a late blooming star on the verge of being a top-pairing defender, and if I had the chance to do so, I would have bet heavily on it.

Brad Trelving, as we know, doesn't have that kind of risk tolerance. He's far more likely to go after an established name-brand player that he sees as a lesser risk. Ironically, making the safe player is often far worse, as the Leafs have shown.

This summer the Leafs tried to partially rebuild their blue-line and all they did was realize that they couldn't have five guys who were terrible at moving the puck (Brodie, Edmundson, Lyubushkin, Benoit, McCabe) so now they only have two (three if they get their wish and Jani Hakanpaa ends up on the team).

The Leafs blue-line is old, lacks upside, and is the most average blue-line in the NHL. In trying to improve their blue-line the Leafs just added name-brand players and called it an (expensive) day. This includes possibly the worst contract handed out in all of free-agency this year.

Since I have been writing about hockey all summer, I've probably thought about this more than most people and I cannot grasp what the Leafs were thinking when they signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a contract. It's so stupid that it would be funny if any other franchise did it. With the Leafs, we just sigh and go "well at least it didn't make this list!"

Here are what I think are the worst three contacts handed out this summer.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most frustrating team in the NHL. On one hand, they have a great roster that has a nice mix of superstars and up-and-coming potential stars. On the other hand, they have a bumbling fool of a GM who has no idea what he's doing.

Last summer, Treliving had $20 million to spend and an easy path away from Kyle Dubas Studs and Duds Salary Cap Strategy, all he had to do was trade William Nylander for a defenseman and call it a day.

Nylander even paved the way for a trade by starting last season on an MVP-like tear that of course he couldn't keep up. But of course, the Leafs signed him right at the peak of the insanity for the absolute most money possible.

As far as improving the team though, Treliving basically took the entire season off. He stuck with Ilya Samsonov and didn't even get a new goalie when he was forced to waive Samsonov in January. At the deadline, he did nothing but minor moves that wasted draft picks but actually made the team worse.

Treliving signed Nylander and he signed Matthews. There is nothing wrong with that, but he didn't do anything else. If he was going to stick with the core four he should have been more careful about throwing away money on mid-range players, but it's a lesson he can't seem to grasp.

Anyone expecting a better off-season this time around was massively disappointed. Treliving changed nothing and all he did was add Chrs Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, two defenseman whose combined age is nearly 70.

Tanev, at least, is still at the top of his game. Ekman-Larsson has been in decline for years.

Last year OEL played the role of left-side defenseman on Florida's 3rd pairing. He was on a one-year $2.25 million dollar deal.

Last year OEL scored 0.9 points per 60, while adding a 56% Corsi, 55% Goals-For and 54% Expected Goals Rating.

Playing the exact same role on a simlar team, Mark Giordano scored at a rate of 0.76 Points per 60, while adding a 55% Corsi, 56% Goals-For and 54% Expected Goals Rating.

The two players put up the exact same numbers in the same role. Only thing is Gio did it for half the price. The Leafs didn't care. "OEL" is a brand name and casual fans will think the team added another star. It makes the GM look good because very few people are going to realize that they forced the guy willing to play for the league minimum into retirement while hiring a guy that is literally no better for 4 x the money and with a bizarre four year commitment.

This is maybe the worst contract handed out in the entire NHL this summer. While I have listed three other options below, the fact is none of those teams forced a guy into retirement to replace him with someone who just put up identical numbers for 4x the money and term. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).

Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubuskin

While there is no way to predict what the upcoming season has in store, one thing we can say for sure is that the Leafs are highly unlikely to trade for Ilya Lyubushkin at the trade deadline for once. That isn't to say they won't want to, but his new contract is ridiculous and likely makes doing so impossible.

The Dallas Stars signed Lyubushkin in free-agency, giving him over $3 million dollars per season for three years, taking him to age 33. This is a terrible deal because players better than Lyubushkin are always available at the league minimum with no needed commitment.

All I can say about this deal is that at least it will prevent the Leafs from trading for him again. Lyubuskin is a bad player and the Leafs should never have traded for him, let alone twice.

Speaking of dumb Leafs trades, Joel Edmundson also signed a terrible contract this summer. The LA Kings gave Edmundson a four year deal with a $3.8 million cap hit that runs until he is 35. It instantly became one of the worst contracts in the NHL. (all contract info puckpedia.com).

The Kings gave Edmundson a four year deal despite the fact that he's terrible at hockey and already 31. Despite the fact that the Oliver Ekman-Larsson deal is incredibly bad, the Leafs at least didn't re-up with either Lyubushkin or Edmundson, so that is something.