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

Chandler Stephenson

There are bad contracts, and then there is whatever the hell the Seattle Kraken gave to Chandler Stephenson, who should immediately build a massive statue of his agent on whatever island property he surely purchased after this hilarious blunder was deemed official.

Stephenson signed a seven year contract with a cap hit of $6.25 million. He is also 30, most definitely not a star player and the contract takes him to age 37.

While the cap is up and $6 million isn't what it used to be, this is still completely nuts. We are almost 20 years into the Salary Cap Era and it could not be any clearer or less disputable that the best practice is to never hand out term and big money to non-star players.

Stephenson's career high is 21 goals, which he did three years ago. His highest ever point total is 65 but he dropped to just 51 last year. In the playoffs, he had one point in seven games.

Stephenson doesn't shoot the puck, and he doesn't play defense. He is a pass-first forward who doesn't drive play. In short, he tops out as an OK second-line centre who can only be effective if he's paired with high-volume shooters who can put the puck in the net.

There was a rumour the Leafs wanted to sign Stephenson, and all I can say is that thankfully Treliving didn't get his way. This is just a bizarre contract and it won't work out at all.

Stephenson's terrible contract save Brad Treliving from having the distinction of handing out the worst deal of the summer. That doesn't make OEL's any better, but at least it's not the very worst one.