The NHL has a lot of bad contracts. Every year, especially on July 1, general managers go wild for big defenders and control centers, pushing the AAV too high for contracts they will quickly regret.

Nowhere is that regret more evident than among goalkeepers.

By my count, there are a whopping fourteen objectively “bad” goalie contracts in the NHL right now – which is a remarkable number considering there are only 64 full-time jobs in the league each season. That’s a bad rate of over 20 percent, and that’s not even counting the unfortunate netminders who had their careers cut short due to injury, like Carey Price and Robin Lehner.

Since the start of last season, four goaltenders making at least $3.5 million have been placed on waivers: Cal Petersen, Jack Campbell, Ilya Samsonov and, most recently, Ville Husso.

Campbell’s contract was bought out in the offseason, leaving the struggling Oilers with a $10.5 million cap hit over the next six years. Petersen and Husso, meanwhile, are in the minors, competing for playing time while earning more than $4.7 million each.

Samsonov is certainly off to a good start in Vegas after taking a 50 percent haircut on his AAV to support Adin Hill.

But these four cautionary tales are far from the only goaltending smells in the league, and some come with even more difficult circumstances given the way their contracts are structured. Considering where things stand right now in Pittsburgh, where their No. 1 big-money pick was a healthy gainer on Sunday night, I wanted to put together a power(less) ranking of the fold early this season.

Let’s dive in…

Remaining contract: Last year $3.4 million

Recent achievements: Everywhere. Two years ago he was very solid for the Devils with a 33-11-4 record and a .911 save percentage in 52 games played. The wheels fell off last season and he was traded away to the Sharks at the deadline.

Extenuating circumstances: The Sharks aren’t exactly on the hunt for wins right now.

Pronunciation: Maybe he just had one bad year last season?

Remaining contract: $3.275 million this season and next season

Recent achievements: Let’s just say Flyers fans are a little bit nervous about the big Russian, given his .815 save percentage in the NHL thus far.

Extenuating circumstances: It’s been five games.

Pronunciation: It feels too early to have him here. I almost left him out. But the numbers are very poor – his above-expected goals per 60 are considerably the lowest of any player on this list – and the contract has a term and a fairly high AAV. He could climb this list. Or work on it some more while he gets used to playing in North America.

Alexandar Georgiev has allowed five goals against per 60 for the Avalanche so far this season. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Remaining contract: Last year $3.4 million

Recent achievements: Georgiev has been under fire early this season, allowing five goals per 60 minutes and a horrendous .811 save percentage. Last season was also a tough one, so things aren’t great, but he did put together a very impressive 62-game season in 2022-23.

Extenuating circumstances: The Avalanche are currently decimated by injuries, with a large percentage of their cap space on LTIR. Georgiev hasn’t been good and is about to lose more starts to Justus Annunen, but Colorado is in a tough spot.

Pronunciation: There is no term left on this deal, and the AAV is not unreasonable considering he won 40 games two years ago and 38 last season. Georgiev’s analytical numbers, such as goals saved beyond expectations, are heading in the wrong direction, but he has a reputation of being a better goalkeeper than him and he could turn things around. Maybe.

Remaining contract: Last year $2.75 million

Recent achievements: Forsberg’s breakout season in 2021-2022 still feels far away. Since then, he’s averaged an .895 save percentage and has some ugly analytical numbers, including early this season when they needed him to be better.

Extenuating circumstances: He doesn’t make a ton of money, and the deal expires at the end of this year. If he continues to struggle, this likely isn’t a contract that will be difficult to move.

Pronunciation: It’s too much for what he is, and the Senators need more saves from their backup, but there’s worse on this list.

Remaining contract: Three more years, $6.4 million

Recent achievements: Gibson’s save percentages have been hovering around .900 for a while, but he’s playing on a rebuilding team and that affects those results. His goals saved above expected numbers are closer to league average, making him one of the more effective goalkeepers on this list.

Extenuating circumstances: Gibson was a top-10 and maybe even a top-five goaltender for the first five years of his career. He didn’t receive Vezina votes until 2019 and hasn’t had much help lately. He’s also surprisingly young (31) considering how long he’s been in the league (almost 500 games played).

Pronunciation: The AAV is sky high considering what he did earlier in his career, which is why he is so high on the list. But it would be interesting to see if he could recover in a different environment as there are still flashes of the goalkeeper he used to be.

Remaining contract: Three more years, $5.25 million

Recent achievements: Well, he won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, which earned him his current payday. However, if we don’t count that as “recent,” he’s had a pretty steep decline, to the point where the Capitals salary dumped him to LA for Pierre-Luc Dubois in June.

Extenuating circumstances: At 34, age seems to be catching up with Kuemper. And without Drew Doughty for a while to start the season, the Kings could leave him relatively exposed.

Pronunciation: This one could get ugly. You can’t really buy out of the deal because of the way it’s structured with signing bonuses, so the Kings need him to play his way out of his current funk and get back to the average goalie he was a few years ago.

Remaining contract: Three more years, $5.9 million

Recent achievements: This is year 4 for him as a Kraken, and the big German has yet to reach a .900 save percentage. And now Joey Daccord is clearly the number 1.

Extenuating circumstances: Grubauer is one of those goalies who put up solid numbers as a backup for years in Washington and Colorado, so the hope has to be that maybe there’s some of that in a smaller role?

Pronunciation: Just not a good contract. With Daccord’s big new pay raise kicking in next season, Grubauer feels like an early buyout candidate unless he has a clear turnaround this season.

Tristan Jarry and the Penguins have struggled to start the season. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)

Remaining contract: Four more years, $5.375 million

Recent achievements: There is certainly a certain degree of recency. Jarry was a healthy scratch on Sunday, passed up the depth chart by little-known rookie Joel Blomqvist, and his future in Pittsburgh feels very precarious just over a year after signing his big deal. He’s had good seasons in the not-so-distant past, but now he’s in trouble.

Extenuating circumstances: It feels unlikely that he can be traded at this point, and given the way the deal is structured, it doesn’t make sense to be bought out. Alex Nedeljkovic is now in the net after taking over the No. 1 job late last year, but he’s never proven himself as the man in the past and Jarry might get more chances to put himself in his place here.

Pronunciation: It’s a bit early to say this is irreparable, but it could go that way if he doesn’t play better. He may be a candidate for waivers at some point this season, and I doubt he will be claimed.

Remaining contract: Three more years, $5.4 million

Recent achievements: It was a tough task for the charismatic Latvian. His numbers went up last season after a disastrous 2022-2023 season, but analytically he’s still near the bottom of the list of underachievers. He has the worst save percentage of any netminder with at least 50 starts over the past two seasons (.888).

Extenuating circumstances: The Blue Jackets weren’t very good, and their lineup was a bit of a revolving door due to the ensuing chaos. But the strange trade request and Merzļikins’ erratic play certainly haven’t helped.

Pronunciation: If a trading partner can’t be found, you have to wonder if an offseason buyout is on the table.

Remaining contract: Last year $4.75 million

Recent achievements: Another relatively unknown young goalkeeper who had one strong season and turned it into an unwise contract as a free agent. The lesson? Don’t pay a goalkeeper who has played less than 80 games a lot of money, no matter what. We call it the Vesa Toskala rule.

Extenuating circumstances: The Red Wings haven’t exactly been a defensive powerhouse during Husso’s tenure, but Alex Lyon, James Reimer and others have managed to play a lot better than Husso.

Pronunciation: At least this one is buried in the AHL, freeing up just over a million in cap space. But this was a costly mistake for Steve Yzerman, given the many years Detroit has now spent in the rebuilding wilderness.

2. Cal Petersen, Philadelphia Flyers

Remaining contract: Last year $5 million

Recent achievements: Flyers and goalkeepers, a story as old as time. This contract was a weird reach when it was signed by the Kings in 2021 and it quickly became one of the worst deals for any player in the entire league. Petersen has played most of the deal in the AHL, making more than 30 times as much as most of his teammates.

Extenuating circumstances: The deal is partially buried, and the Flyers knew they were taking it on to land a big-ticket item in Ivan Provorov, who wasn’t working as a Flyer.

Pronunciation: The only thing keeping this one at the top of the list is that it’s almost over.

Remaining contract: Four more years, $4 million

Recent achievements: This was one of the stranger UFA signings in recent memory, as Korpisalo had struggled to show any consistency in Columbus for years before Ottawa gave him a five-year contract at decent starting money.

Extenuating circumstances: The Bruins are not paying the full burden, as the Senators have retained $1 million of this contract over the past four years as part of the Linus Ullmark trade. But $3 million is still a lot to pay for a backup who has been below replacement cost more often than not throughout his career.

Pronunciation: Korpisalo has shown flashes of strong play at first down earlier in his career (i.e. the 2020 playoffs), so perhaps he’ll settle in behind Boston’s stout team defense and give them a big 25 the rest of the way give starts. But the early returns are ugly – and he could get some pressure for playing time from Brandon Bussi in the AHL if he continues to struggle.

Other goalies that could have been mentioned: Dan Vladar (Calgary Flames), Marc-Andre Fleury (Minnesota Wild).

(Top photo by Philipp Grubauer: Chris Jones / Imagn Images)