With the major free agent contracts mostly signed, which existing contracts are the worst?

The first few days of free agency normally leads to some horrific signings, but NHL general managers showed pretty good restraint this past weekend.

That’s not to say there weren’t some bad deals. Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s eight-year, $56-million signing looks to be awful, but the contract doesn’t kick in for another year.

Fantasy GMs in cap leagues follow the free agency frenzy pretty closely. Many fantasy GMs mirror their NHL counterparts. Having a player that makes too much money compared to his production makes it tougher to get other quality players on your squad. Look at last night. Washington signed Evgeny Kuznetsov and had to trade Marcus Johansson. There are probably some fantasy GMs stuck doing the same thing.

Below you’ll find the top 10 worst NHL contracts from a fantasy perspective. There were a few criteria: Length of the contract matters. Tomas Plekanec makes way too much money, but is only signed for one more year. Also, the contract has to be on the books for this upcoming season. So guys like Vlasic doesn’t count.

All cap hits come from capfriendly.com.

On to the list.

10. Reilly Smith

You know your contract is awful when a team has to give up a 30-goal scorer making $750,000 just to get rid of you in an expansion draft. I don’t blame Smith, or anyone else in the NHL, for huge contracts.  Players need to make the money while they can. But I would shy far away from him in cap leagues as he’s making $5 million a year for the next five years and is essentially a 15-goal, 40-point guy.

9. Brent Seabrook

Sometimes an NHL general manager is too loyal to his guys and decides to give his players long-term, big-money contracts. That’s what’s happened in Chicago, and truthfully, a few Hawks players could have made this list. Seabrook’s contract is one of the worst. The 32-year-old makes $6.875 million for the next seven years. That’s too much money for a 40-point defenseman. The only reason he’s not higher on this list is that he is a solid contributor in the blocked shots and hits categories.

8. Jakub Voracek

Do you ever watch Voracek play or look at his statistics and think to yourself, “that guy should be one of the top 15-paid players in the NHL?” Of course not. But Voracek is earning $8.25 million a year for the next seven years. This is despite the fact he’s had only two great seasons in a nine-year career. His only saving grace is that he shoots the puck a lot and he puts up great power-play numbers.

7. Loui Eriksson

It should have been obvious to pretty much everyone that Eriksson’s contract was a huge mistake minutes after he signed it. He won’t ever come close to earning his contract that will see him get $6 million a season for the next five years. The soon-to-be 32-year-old had 11 goals and 24 points and did not contribute in a single fantasy category this season.

6. Bobby Ryan

Much like Eriksson, it’s never a good thing when a player making $7.25 million for the next five years doesn’t contribute anything to your fantasy squad. Part of Ryan’s problems has been his inability to stay healthy. This past year he played 62 games and scored 13 goals and 25 points. It’s also concerning he took 111 shots this year. His 1.79 shots a game was easily his lowest since his 2007-08 rookie season.

5. Jonathan Toews

The Hawks are paying Toews $10.5 million for the next six years for his leadership, his playoff performances and helping the team win three Stanley Cups. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help you at all in fantasy leagues. He’s great in leagues that count faceoffs, but his back-to-back years of 58 points is a little worrying. Now the Hawks are bringing back former players to hope to recapture some of the magic of lore.

4. Aaron Ekblad

Last week, I put Ekblad in my top three for potential fourth-year breakouts next season. But until he becomes an elite defenseman fantasy-wise, he’s making way too much money. Ekblad will take home $7.5 million for the next seven years. There’s only six d-men with a higher annual cap hit — P.K. Subban, Brent Burns, Victor Hedman, Shea Weber, Dustin Byfuglien and Ryan Suter. Until Ekblad starts improving on 21-point, minus-23 seasons, his contract is an albatross for your fantasy squad.

3. Zach Parise

Parise’s fantasy stock is dropping pretty quickly. Look at his last three years.

2014-15: 74 games, 33 goals, 62 points, plus-21, 41 PM, 11 PPG, 259 SOG, 86 hits

2015-16: 70 games, 25 goals, 53 points, minus-three, 36 PIM, seven PPG, 234 SOG, 71 hits

2016-17: 69 games, 19 goals, 42 points, minus-three, 30 PM, six PPG, 194 SOG, 46 hits

That’s a decrease in every significant fantasy category. Even more concerning is the fact his time on ice this year was 17:26, his lowest since his rookie campaign in 2005-06. Parise is still making $7.5 million a year for the next seven years, but he’s not worth the money in cap leagues.

2. Henrik Lundqvist

What makes Lundqvist’s contract so bad is that he making more money than any other goalie in the NHL until Carey Price’s deal kicks in next summer. But Lundqvist isn’t the best goalie in the league anymore. Or top five. Or even top 10. This past season, he was the 20^th best goalie in Yahoo leagues. The 35-year-old goalie is signed for $8.5 million a season for the next four years. There are lots of cheaper, and better, options out there.

1. Anze Kopitar

Kopitar’s contract of $10 million a year for the next seven years looks worse every year in fantasy circles. He’s had a couple of years in a row now with really slow starts. The Kings are so hampered with bad contracts that it’s hard to get good help through trades or free agent signings. The Kings have a horrible farm team. Aside from a couple of current Kings, there’s just not a lot of help for Kopitar, who just finished with 12 goals, 52 points, a minus-10, 28 PIM, 150 shots and 78 hits. Not worth it for $10 million.