Capped: Big Salaries, Bigger Disappointments

Chris Pudsey

2014-12-11

AlexSemin

Five of the most burdensome contracts in fantasy hockey.

When most GMs assemble their fantasy rosters, they have certain guys who take up a big part of their cap, and these players are normally your stars. You expect them to put up big fantasy numbers to offset the big piece of your cap that they eat up. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work out.

In this week's Capped, we will take a look at five well-paid stars that are simply not performing up to their big pay cheques.

Brian Campbell (FLA) / $7,142,875 two years remaining

GP	G	A	P	PntPG	Pace	+/-	PIM	Shots	GW	PPG	PPP	SHG	SHP	PPTOI	%PP	%SH	TOI/G	%TOI
26	1	7	8	0.31	25	1	0	37	0	1	4	0	0	03:24	63.5	15.2	23:15	37.9

Let's be honest, Brian Campbell has never been a big goal scorer throughout his NHL career. In fact, he has only surpassed eight goals in a season once and that was back in 2005-2006 but one goal through 26 games is low even for him. He is one of the leagues best passers and his biggest asset is his speed but he seems to be struggling this year. Considering he is paired with Aaron Ekblad over 78% of the time, and we all know how well he's played so far this year, it's hard to understand how Campbell only has eight points so far, especially when you look at the time on ice and the power play time he receives. Granted, Florida has been anything but an offensive juggernaut so far this year, but you have to wonder if Campbell, at 31 years old, isn't starting to lose a step.

On the bright side, five of his eight points have been on the power play.

Alexander Semin (CAR) / $ 7,000,000 Four years remaining

GP	G	A	P	PntPG	Pace	+/-	PIM	Shots	GW	PPG	PPP	SHG	SHP	PPTOI	%PP	%SH	TOI/G	%TOI
21	1	5	6	0.29	23	-9	16	27	0	0	2	0	0	01:45	30.9	0.4	16:21	26.9

MIN

591

526

.890

3.27

1194

Pretty hard to deny the fact that for some strange reason, Smith has struggled this year. With only five wins to show for his 20 games started this year, he has all but lost his starting role to backup Devan Dubnyk. Doobie has played some outstanding goal for the Coyotes and has really seemed to benefit from a strong goalie coach like Sean Burke. Maybe it's because the Coyotes are scoring, on average, better than a goal a game more when Dubnyk has been in nets (2.16 average goals for with Smith in nets, 3.14 GFA when Dubnyk has started). Maybe Burke needs to spend a little more time with the guy making the big salary and try and get him back on track. Since arriving in Arizona, he has been a workhorse for this club and given them solid goaltending and will work this out.

We all know how important goaltending is in fantasy hockey so for all you Smith owners who haven't jumped ship yet, here's hoping Smith can get back on track.

Marian Gaborik (LA) / $4,875,000 Seven years remaining

GP	G	A	P	PntPG	Pace	+/-	PIM	Shots	GW	PPG	PPP	SHG	SHP	PPTOI	%PP	%SH	TOI/G	%TOI
16	4	4	8	0.50	41	3	6	31	1	1	1	0	0	02:58	49.5	1.0	16:29	26.9

I will cut Gaborik a tad of slack because he has missed some games this year due to injury, but that doesn't excuse his lack of production for the 16 games that he has played in. The Kings signed Gaborik to a long-term contract after acquiring him last year and he had some instant chemistry with Anze Kopitar. Fast-forward to this season and both Gaborik and Kopitar are both off to slow starts. Gaborik is a goal scorer, that's what he does best, scoring over 30 goals seven times in his career, and has surpassed 40 goals three times. What's strange for Gaborik this year, only scoring four goals to this point, is he is scoring the puck as often as he normally does for his career shooting 12.9%. That at least should give his owners hope that this should turn around sooner rather than later and we should see him start to pot a few more goals, if he can stay healthy.

Vincent Lecavalier (PHI) / $4,500,000 Four years remaining

GP	G	A	P	PntPG	Pace	+/-	PIM	Shots	GW	PPG	PPP	SHG	SHP	PPTOI	%PP	%SH	TOI/G	%TOI
16	2	4	6	0.38	31	-4	4	28	0	0	3	0	0	02:39	45.7	0.1	13:24	22.2

Well, what can we say about Lecavalier that hasn't been said? The Flyers are trying to find a taker for him but no one seems to want him. It's got to the point where the Flyers are healthy scratching him and he's watching from the press box for the past four games. Head Coach Craig Berube simply doesn't trust him enough to have him out there. They have tried him all over the line-up, at center and on the wing, and he still seems to fall out of favour with his coach. While it would appear Lecavalier can still be a productive player somewhere, his cap hit and term is just not worth the risk for most teams. One thing is for sure; Lecavalier wants to continue to play and welcomes the chance to show he can still produce. Even in a down year last year, he still scored 20 goals. Maybe, like Semin, a change of scenery would do him a world of good and kick-start his season.

UPCOMING GAMES

Apr 11 - 19:04	N.J	vs	PIT
Apr 11 - 19:04	OTT	vs	MTL
Apr 11 - 19:04	T.B	vs	DET
Apr 11 - 21:04	EDM	vs	S.J
Apr 11 - 22:04	CGY	vs	MIN