Best and Worst Contracts (Team-by-Team Analysis)

What’s up guys? It’s your favorite AHL third liner (maybe not anymore by the looks of things) taking his talents to AHL media. This’ll be a breakdown of, in my opinion, best and worst contracts, as well as some honorable mentions and extra thoughts about each team where I can reasonably discuss. Let’s get it goin’…

Abbotsford Canucks

Best: This is actually going to be a tie for me. As bidding wore on, we found out that left defensemen were hard to come by. SpankMeDddy and XFrxncey are two really good pickups to help hold this team’s defense together and will be crucial to keeping games close.

Worst: The_Yoke_Beast was a negative player on one of the best teams in the C last season and is a -68 through 60 games in the A. Yes, he was basically free, but as a whole the left defensemen are looking as though they’ll need to carry their boys on the other side.

Honorable Mention: Talk all the shit you want about Boske, but it’s hard enough to find AHL players that even consistently win games anymore. Boske has had a positive record every season since S17. He might play upside down (sleep at the foot of the bed with no pillows, wash his hands before he shits, etc etc.) but it works and the team will rely on his effectiveness. The Baby ‘Nucks also grabbed two solid tendies in Big superkid and Lagawins.


Bakersfield Condors

Best: TheSchwartz14 is a reliable right defenseman for a reasonable 2 mill price tag. A good pair with xJimini if that’s the route the Condors opt for.

Worst: Killer2156, or who we all know as JJ_Hilly is just too pricy. He knows it, and we all know it too. Guy’s a straight-line king with decent offensive ability, but will need support that just doesn’t seem to be there in spades in Bakersfield. Bakersfield also took 5 mill and spent it on Exodus who is a solid player, but with no LG games since S15, so he’s simply unproven. Investing almost 40% into them will likely prove costly. Given there are four right wings on the roster, it looks like Exodus may move to Center.

Honorable Mention: The Crunch were looking to pick up Gatesse for min bid, but his bid skyrocketed as soon as we got the chance. It’s good to see Bakersfield spreading the wealth on defense, but I’m not optimistic about this team’s consistency nor its offensive firepower upfront. A lot of steady players but no one who’ll blow the doors off.


Belleville Senators

Best: HowRawTooRaw was a great pickup for the Baby Sens. Great experience in the AHL at wing and will provide exceptional support for HillysEgo or Boo at C.

Worst: Not much to complain about since they’re both min bid but neither Bengol208 nor Boreass516 have sustained any success at the AHL level. A team that you’d expect to laud for their defense might actually need its offense to be its calling card.

Honorable Mention: I’m not going to explicitly say that it was bad to give GHCream 4.25 as a career decently-performing winger, but for that price it helps to have a proven guy. I can see him having some exceptional utility on the right side with Nash on wing as he’s a career defenseman to this point. They could almost swap positions throughout the game or just commit to a more defensive stance, but catalyze the offense when needed. GHCream will definitely need to be an offensive creator to make the price work in any case.

Bridgeport Islanders

Best: Jamie14benn14 as a resign-and-trade-AGM coming off a Calder Cup win is a great pickup for Bridgeport. This team is coming off a run to the Western Conference Finals as Tucson but will have a harder time making the playoffs in the…seemingly forever tougher Eastern Conference. Kershaw1984 is also a solid minimum bid grab.


Worst: I can’t even really shit on xFlow’s 8 mill contract given the dearth of available talent in bidding, but the team could’ve used some extra cap to avoid having seven minimum price players on roster in favor of some more reliable talent.

Honorable Mention: Bridgeport has the benefit of a solid management team, but spreading the wealth will limit their potential to be a top-level team especially in a deep Eastern Conference.

Charlotte Checkers

Best: TheWindex at wing is solid despite his experience at defense, and koztomade is always worth a min bid price with his defensive playstyle.

Worst: Hellsfyre at 4.5 million is one of the more egregious bids with hardly any experience in the A and limited positive contributions in the C. Seemed to be an uncalculated risk especially with the supplemental lack of offensive talent. Good dude, but not worth 4.5.

Honorable Mention: Charlotte brought a few names back from Providence of S19 who were in the cellar last season but Friz, DCRoyL, and Shoots all reunite, as they look to bring some Val d’Or success to the mix.

Chicago Wolves

Best: Chicago Wolves already had the benefit of bringing a lot of pieces back from its deep playoff run, and just when you thought they might have to settle for poor management they grab Tkachuky_Cheese and xCJ57, two NHL level players. They are their best contracts, as I’d be remiss not to mention them given all they already had back.

Worst: Jabbabuttafingaz…5.25…okay.

Honorable Mention: Moreau is a little expensive a 4m with little to no AHL experience but he knows the league very well so his paycheck goes a long for his ability to build a solid team and make moves when needed. This team will score in bunches but doesn’t have the same defensive stance it has in season’s past.


Cleveland Monsters

Best: BladesonThree aka GhostBear is a solid pickup at 1.25 but leads a first line on a bad team with…

Worst: Malkin71 who is a West defenseman who’s a -69 (not nice) in the A at 4.75 who’s five bids more expensive than his teammate MikehTheGod with much better scoring prowess. Also, Jimbo_Slice…I mean COME ON.

Honorable Mention: This might be the sharpest regression a Calder Cup team has seen in a minute. Obviously no one returns but this will be a team that will need outstanding goaltending and an overperforming offense to make any noise.

Coachella Valley Firebirds

Best: Easy resign of the ol SqueegyDingers87 will do the trick. Guy can score in bunches but will need to be on a top line. Wingnutdrw and Fishyvagene are also solid left defensemen at a good price point in this season’s bidding.
Worst: Robobeanaz at LW felt like a desperation bid as he hasn’t performed at the C let alone the A but if he’s the worst they did they fared fairly well.
Honorable Mention: Nxcas, Tommydufour, Rated and DaKnot are all solid players at their price point.


Colorado Eagles

Best: Lankeez and Belanger are two min priced left wings that can score at will on the right line. Mgiroux is also solid at any position, so he might be a steal at 2 mill.

Worst: I don’t know that this’ll be a bad bid at the end of the day, but the Eagles threw 3mill on Chreid and nobody ever touched him. Might’ve been helpful to throw less on him to see who else they could get with the potential remaining space.

Honorable Mention: This team also won’t set the world on fire, but KnightsATL is always a good signing at his price tag.


Grand Rapids Griffins

Best: Alright Bobby, you’ve got a good team, are you happy? Helps to have a 70% full roster going into bidding. Getting WowMyNameIsTaken for 5 million less than last season was an achievement unto itself, and having 5 out of 6 defensemen was quite the advantage.

Worst: The goaltending corps is not the greatest and RBZTaylorMade is not an AHL player.

Honorable Mention: Like I stated, this team was already well set up for success. All they had to do was not botch the open spots and they more or less did that. Having Renewable for min is certainly a plus and Ironside is a lethal player at LW.

Hartford Wolf Pack

Best: iTz McKenzie is a great scorer for 1m but there’s not a whole ton to be excited about next to him, Loochador, and Carter77.


Worst: I’ll admit I don’t know a whole ton of players on this roster, but I didn’t get the impression this team had a plan considering the amount of CHL level players it had to pull. The goalie tandem is also lackluster.


Honorable Mention: Not enough firepower or overall skill to see this team in the playoffs. Carter will have to carry a line again and Buckybear88 could make some noise in some fun games.

Henderson Silver Knights

Best: xWaggu plays a very aggressive game and can put up points in bunches when needed so he’s a great pickup. Hughes43 is a solid RD at just 1.25, and would make a great pair with kgrilli at 2mill.

Worst: Goaltending is suspect at best.

Honorable Mention: Nothing egregious to complain about. Should be comfortable in the Western Conference.

Hershey Bears

Best: Mids and Marny have solid chem on C and RW respectively, and Hershey has the luxury of a great management group.

Worst: I’m hard-pressed to complain about anybody on this roster. Vito doesn’t have RW experience in the A but he’s winner so I’m just grasping at straws. He’s even min bid which could be a steal in reality.

Honorable Mention: Hershey returns a lot of solid defensive players from last season’s team, which should keep them a contender for sure.

Iowa Wild

Best: If Iowa choose to keep Cellycenter down in the A he’s instantly the best they’ve got, but the D corps as whole is really solid.

Worst: It’s kind of painful when your AGM is your worst bid, but Loach doesn’t warrant a 3 mill price tag.

Honorable Mention: Another team primed to compete if the roster stays as is with some money to blow if they need to make some moves.

Laval Rocket

Best: For an all minimum bid LD corps, you could do a lot worse.

Worst: I mean Thibodeau’s a solid dman but not for 5.5 mill.

Honorable Mention: ARR is too expensive at his price point and there are too many CHL level players on this team to compete. Goaltending is solid, though.


Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Best: BIGTBUC is decent for 750, Rednek Army is solid for 2 mill, and their two draft picks Bunt (last season), and Covello are great players.

Worst: XxJones49 went for 5.75 mill at a position he’s never played in LG, is a -276 in season games and a -93 in World Juniors (yes that tournament with only teams that don’t make CHL playoffs or get bounced in the first round). Proof that he can win consistently at any level would’ve made this make sense even the slightest. MustardTiger463 is not an AHL level player. Dunks in pubs and couldn’t pick the corner biting into a cheez-it let alone in Chel.

Honorable Mention: Decent defensive corps all things considered, but the team will still need to score at a torrid pace to keep up with East juggernauts.

Manitoba Moose

Best: The Moose have the benefit of a solid management group, and picked up Fluri on the last bid at 4 million which boosts their offense significantly.

Worst: Left wings look pretty suspect, but it will be interesting to see who makes the switch to right wing.

Honorable Mention: xGrhymes at 1.75, Lannister_Bro for min bid are both solid on D.


Milwaukee Admirals

Best: This team is pretty anemic in general, but I like their goalies quite a bit.

Worst: 8.5 million on two defensemen that are not exemplary playmakers is questionable. Too many CHL level guys on this roster as well. A bunch of old names that could either hit or completely miss.

Honorable Mention: Alexander1032 is one of the kings of shooting from anywhere and praying it goes in. If he’s in the corner he’s shooting, boom scouting report done. Not sure how this team will make much noise.

Ontario Reign

Best: The management group (Henderson S19) is very solid, and brings in some interesting wings like Corcky, Maxlagloire, and OverzZ that all play winning hockey in the right system.

Worst: RockGosu is very expensive at 3.5 for what he can do on the ice. Stutzle at 2mill is alright, but he’s kind of a one-trick pony.

Honorable Mention: Is Kuttn an AHL LW? I couldn’t tell ya.

Providence Bruins

Best: Teddy_NY24 continues to fly under the radar for a lot of people but he’s a great resign for 750.

Worst: Duchesne and Pezdemic are expected to carry the offensive load for around 10 mill combined, which will require them to win a lot of big games and score lofty point totals. They’re not bad players but there isn’t enough around them to make them go the way their price tags would otherwise yield.

Honorable Mention: WeekendNachos and Chedzz are steady players and the team brings a few CHL players potentially ready to make a permanent jump. Should be interesting to watch.

Rochester Americans

Best: Draft picks are gross (Heelhook, Pinard, Cococamp, Grukor and some or all could be in the N), Greeny is too cheap, the management group should be in the N. Another classic keys to the castle situation for Dugz and co.

Worst: Not to ride Bobby’s coattails but if I had to nitpick, Rapideetdangereu is the worst of a very well-rounded roster.

Honorable: Rochester had the benefit of a mostly filled roster and needed to fill a couple of weak spots (and trade me away, I guess..)

Rockford IceHogs

Best: Fonz for minimum price is as good as this team gets.

Worst: This section has written itself. Tekk knows he’s not worth 5.75, because he’s not. I’d be interested to see what this team can accomplish with this roster...

Honorable Mention: BigPapaPumpkin is a solid RD as well, and you can do worse than envy and Nitro_96, but not a great squad overall.


San Diego Gulls

Best: AlecMcLay is a solid scorer on left wing and should make some of his teammates look good.

Worst: Certainly not the worst player on the team but 6 mill for NotSlxmShxdy is A LOT, and he knows it too. Stats are certainly inflated playing on a line with Dugz and Co. for two straight seasons. He can hold his own but not at that price tag.

Honorable Mention: Goalie tandem looks okay and Chxlked is worth a 1.25 cap hit, but also meh.

San Jose Barracuda

Best: Jmanc for 750 has shades of gross sometimes and Mythic Shadow is a solid two way player at 1.5.

Worst: Straughan_1994 the toe drag king should never get more than 1.5, let alone 2.75. Jerry knows in his heart of hearts he is not worth 4 million. That also makes him more or less untradeable so he’s going to need to carry a line, but he’s not that type of player. Desperate times called for desperate measures towards the end of bidding, so he was a product of that as well. Usually not a good sign for the team as a hole

Honorable Mentions: BSavage and Bender were great managers in the C, but the A is a new ballgame entirely. Should be interesting to see how this team transitions.

Springfield Thunderbirds

Best: With an almost full roster going into bidding, there’s not too much to evaluate. HellaciousDragon is a good pickup for min bid. This team is pretty balanced which bodes well for securing a playoff spot yet again, but they’ll likely have to make some moves to elevate their output over a full season.

Worst: Phiisty and DMacDabs are expensive, but not prohibitively so given the rest of the roster’s composition. Both are on 5.75 million contracts.

Honorable Mention: No reason why this team doesn’t make playoffs barring a colossal meltdown. A lot of pieces were brought back crucial to a successful season. They just need to get over a first and second round hump.

Stockton Heat

Best: Stockton benefits from a skilled management duo in Oppi and Scredd, and PensCanuks (FakeQc) is a really good C for 3.5 million. Definitely underrated and will thrive on a good line provided he gets to play with those two in some capacity.

Worst: I don’t know that IM_ALZ is worth 4 million, maybe 2.5/3 at best in this bidding.

Honorable Mention: Right wing trio looks pretty solid (Br0midas, sniiiider, and xCxshy. Should be a solid team to watch.

Syracuse Crunch

Best: Our defense and goaltending are fuckin’ juicy.

Worst: We got sniped for forwards ~17 times, so we need to be everybody 3-1.

Honorable Mention: I’m cheap as fuck. Management is solid, goalies are nasty. Bang.


Texas Stars

Best: Doughty’s kinda gross not gonna lie, G_Mac is free.

Worst: Tronthedon isn’t a center, did you mean to do this? Blink once for yes, twice for no.

Honorable Mention: Viva is dying for attention so, hey everyone, GuyLeFlower is on this team…he’s fine whatever. Looks like a 1-line team to me but what do I know?


Toronto Marlies

Best: Solid management group, VintageTrav at 7.25 million isn’t bad if he’s playing with Cory and Murph. Those guys crush in VG (league’s shit, but ya know, chem is chem). Jags is gross. This is another team that was basically full when bidding started.

Worst: Goalies might be questionable (Zanzilla price, G_bone experience). Chaskin12 looks like a panic bid but what do I know?

Honorable Mention: Team should compete highly throughout the season and avoid the one-line team bug.


Tucson Roadrunners

Best: NateJones for 1 mill is a bonafide steal even at LW. Guy can play anywhere and make his teammates better. Hanman is always a good pick to win some games at LD.

Worst: Not worst necessarily but unproven, NHLBeast at 2.75 for a G-turned-wing should be interesting. Tuckitteal at over 2 mill is suspect.

Honorable Mention: This is definitely a mid-standings team. I can’t make of where they’ll excel or struggle most yet as I get a pretty meh vibe from everybody else I didn’t mention.

Utica Comets

Best: Solid defensive pick-ups all around on this roster and should be a team that competes for a playoff spot. Newey Newey and NicoleW8 (MClarke) are notable dmen. Givens had 69 (nice) goals in the C last season.

Worst: Slinger might be the worst of a really solid d corps and MattyIce might be a couple of bids too expensive. Goalie tandem may be below average.

Honorable Mention: This is Murph and Mercer’s first true experience managing in the A and will likely need to make some crucial moves to climb the rungs in a tough East.

Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

Best: Camouflage2837 is a very underrated RD at 1.5, and Super_light for under 4 is always a good pickup. Reignman is a great scorer for 3.25.

Worst: Chxnch might’ve been a bit too expensive at 3.75, but may be a good price in a down bidding cycle. Perhaps a bit nitpicky.

Honorable Mention: The management group is really solid with a lot of good experience at the A and N.


Thanks for reading, y'all. Don't have too much fun shitting on it

 

I avoid worst contract yet again. We live baby

 

Great read Kep!

 

.500 players opinions shouldn’t matter

 

Your damn right I’m a straight-line king…and overpaid

 

Love the media!

 

Great write up kep !

 

That’s weird because I’m pretty sure you’re down here with me because you’re a “.367 player” in the N. If you wanted your opinions to matter, you might also consider writing media of your own.

 

Thanks for the honorable mention Kep! Great write up!

 

Neither do those of the ppl that miss playoffs in AHL ‍♂️

 

Good write up. I'm just glad I didn't make the worst

 

Kep you haven’t seen my final form! Inflation is a real thing and my bills need to be paid. Nice write up tho!

 

Problem with @Nitro_96 is in ~38 seasons of LG the guy has managed to play a full season 4 or 5 times. If he lasts it could be an excellent pickup but I have my doubts.

 

anemic??!

 

Great right up but a piss poor analysis

 

nice

 

Write*

 

Love a good comeback story.

 

Thank god for not being worst contract baby!

 

<3 Kep