Names like Ales Hemsky and Dave Bolland headline last year’s free agent signing disappointments. 

As you are reading this, the first round of the NHL playoffs have wrapped up and we are off to the second round. The competition is getting tougher and it will only get worse for those teams left. My prediction of the St. Louis Blues coming out of the West came back to bite me in the butt for a second year in a row. I won't make that mistake next year. Anyway, I digress, and look forward to following the remaining teams as they strive for greatness.

Speaking of greatness, or lack thereof, the offseason is the time when we can take a look back at how teams fared in regards to their free agent signings from last summer. Some GM's made some really smart signings which benefitted their teams greatly. Some GM's not so much. In this weeks Capped, I'm taking a look at some of the worst free agent deals handed out last summer. We will review the signings which may have looked good at the time and flopped, or some that just were head scratchers at the time and ended up the way we all thought they would. Anyone in a capped salary league lives and dies by the decisions made by real life GMs and the contracts they hand out.  These contracts affect how we run our teams as well.

Here's a look at some of last year's failures for free agent contracts.

****

Dave Bolland – FLA

After an injury riddled season in Toronto which saw him play in 23 games, Dave Bolland spurned the Leafs and was signed to a new five year, $27.5M contract by the Florida Panthers. Not only was the cap hit of $5.5M a ridiculous amount to pay for a third line center, the term of five years was obscene. Bolland has never been known as a big point producer; his career high for points came back in 2010/11 when he scored 15 goals and put up 37 points.

I understand he's still only 28 years old and has plenty of years left, but if the Panthers think he is ever going to ascend to the value of his contract, I truly feel sorry for them going forward. This contract is going to hurt them in a couple years when some of their kids need new deals.

My call here – head scratcher

Paul Stastny – STL

Stastny signed one of the richer free agent contracts last summer, a new four year, $28M contract with division rivals St. Louis Blues. Make no mistake about it, Stastny was brought in to bolster the offense for the Blues but in 74 games, he managed to score 16 goals and put up 46 points. Since coming into the league, this is his worst offensive season in any season that he played in more than 70 games. At the time of the signing, it seemed like a reasonable deal for both sides. Stastny was only 28 years old and in the prime of his career so the term was shorter than many would have expected and he received a minimal raise from his previous contract where he was making $6.6M per year.