For the second time in less than a week, the Nashville Predators players' contracts have come under scrutiny again by The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn.
After saying that Nic Hague and Brady Skjei had two of the worst contracts in the NHL, Luszczyszyn ranked the Predators 30th out of 32 in the NHL's contract efficiency rankings.
"No team is expected to spend more for less than the Predators, whose total surplus value comes in at minus-$63 million," Luszczyszyn wrote.
Age is the main problem he cited, claiming that the Predators are taking big bets on players who are older and have failed to produce this past season. To his credit, "big splash signings" like Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei and Jonathan Marchessault didn't pan out last season.
The Predators signed Stamkos to a 4-year, $32 million contract, meaning that Stamkos will be pushing 40 by the time the contract expires. After taking a 28-point dip last season from the previous, he needs a bounce-back year, or this signing could be a bust.
Stamkos is a player of his generation, but the dip in production could be signaling the twilight of his career. A four-year contract looked safe enough, but the Predators could see themselves shelling out money to a past-their-prime superstar.
It could also be a similar situation for Marchessault. Nashville essentially took the bait that Vegas didn't. Marchessault wanted a five-year contract, but the Golden Knights passed due to Marchessault's age, 38, by the time it had expired.
With a similar mindset to signing Stamkos, the Predators weren't worried about the ladder end of the contract and gave Marchessault his 5-year, $27.5 million contract. This season, he took a 13-point dip in production.
Skjei was signed on in the expectation that he was going to supplement Josi's scoring on the back end. Since the 2021-22 season, his production has spiked, but again, Nashville offered a lengthy contract to an older player, 7 years for $49 million.
While 33 points is solid, it was a 14-point decline. Heading into a long contract, again, the Predators need a bounce-back year from Josi or they could see themselves dealing with a lengthy contract with a aging player.
Then you have the two additions on defense that were supposed to "fix" the unit: Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix.
Perbix is a little bit more understandable. A 2-year, $5.5 million contract for a defenseman producing about 20 points a season isn't awful. They want to get more out of him, but he isn't going to be a superstar out of the game.
The contract issues arise again with Hague's contract and their intentions. The Predators gave him a 4 year, $22 million contract, expecting him to be in Nashville's top four. He's never had that role in his entire career.
Hague hasn't scored more than 17 points in a season, played in Vegas' bottom pairing nearly every season and had the lowest plus/minus in the Golden Knights' defensive corps last season. It's an acquisition that makes no sense.
There are also all the players the Predators claimed off waivers late last season, seemingly out of desperation.
Andreas Englund, Jordan Oesterle and Jakub Vrana were all claimed off waivers last season, and the Predators kept two. Englund and Oesterle are both in the final year of a $775,000 contract.
They don't have substantial financial hits, but neither brings much to the table. Englund racks up the penalty minutes, and Oesterle hasn't really contributed at all statistically. The Predators will likely put them back on waivers or trade them, but any intentions of keeping them in the lineup shouldn't really be justified.
One of the less popular conversations that Luszczyszyn mentioned was about goaltender Juuse Saros. He is still one of the top Finnish goalies in the league, but struggled substantially last season.
He had a 2.97 goals against average and a .896 save percentage, the lowest of his career as a full-time NHL goaltender. Saros' GAA has risen over the last four seasons and is going to need a bounce-back season in order to get into the conversation as one of the best goalies in the league.
Saros is in the first year of a gigantic 8 year, $61.92 million contract. He will be 38 by the end of it.
The Predators appear to be counting on players in their early to mid-30s experiencing a resurgence, which is typically when their play declines, and essentially locking them in until retirement.
On the bright side, the Predators' strengths have come in drafting and building their prospects. There are numerous prospects, most of whom are yet to enter the Predators system, that have a ton of upside. Managing that pool well will pay off in the future.
However, at the same time, the Predators are still figuring out the right contract for Luke Evangelista. Although there's still time to secure Evangelista a new contract, it's concerning that one hasn't been drafted yet.
Following the same pattern as their recent signings, general manager Barry Trotz stated that Evangelista's representation disliked the original contract term, which was likely longer than expected.
The big question that Luszczyszyn is bringing forward is whether the Predators are signing the right players to the right contracts. That answer looks like it's a no.
