The Dallas Stars signing center Martin Hanzal to a contract out of free agency has blown up in their collective faces early on this season. Where does this move stack up with other horrible free agency signings?
Free agency in the National Hockey League has forever been a torrid struggle between hindsight and foresight. It’s the foresight to go all in and sign players that look great on paper versus the hindsight to eventually regret the making the transaction at all.
The Dallas Stars have, through 15 games in the 2017-18 season, fallen victim to this eternal stalemate. For four years at $4.75 million each, general manager Jim Nill and the Stars inked defensive center Martin Hanzal to a contract using foresight, only to reap few benefits in hindsight.
Martin Hanzal has truly been an afterthought in the first segment of the Stars’ schedule, something you do not want to see out of a player that garnered as much cash on the free market as he did. Just one lousy point – an empty net goal assisted by and singlehandedly created by Mattias Janmark – for the price of $4.75 million.
The Dallas Stars need good, or borderline decent play by Hanzal to soak up any contractual disbelief in the Czech penalty killer. Anything more than, you know, horrifyingly bad, such as the first 15 games of the Stars’ season. This is a deal that could come back to bite them in the neck.
Sports Dallas Fort-Worth
Using simple math, we’re going to examine the worst free agency deals the Dallas Stars have made in recent memory in an attempt to see where the Hanzal signing falls in line with the rest. Trust me, there have been some bad ones, and any long-time Stars fan can attest to that.
All we’re doing is using the sum of Hanzal’s points this year and forming a different, more decisive metric: cost per point. CapFriendly, an exhaustive hockey salary website and extremely comprehensive player earnings database, originated the metric.
The goal of all players using this calculation is to be as low and as efficent as possible. To not drain your team of money and play at the level at which you’re paid, or to be a pleasant surprise making less money and scoring anyways, is what the best players in the ranks accomplish. We will compare Hanzal to the rest of the NHL this season, in addition to lining the 6’6″ forward up with other busts of the Dallas Stars’ past. Ready? Go.
Martin Hanzal currently ranks, in a descending order, 540th in cost per point. His one point for $4.75 million has costs the Stars, well, $4.75 million. Hanzal comes in at 545th in a points-per-game pace, as his current 82-game standard is seven points ($678k). The former first-round pick should see some steady, reliable players around him, yet has names like Brooks Orpik, Andrew MacDonald, Dan Girardi, and Andy Greene surrounding him.
Dallas Stars
Just this year, the Stars went out and bought the rights to depth forward Tyler Pitlick and superstar winger Alexander Radulov. Radulov costs the Dallas Stars $625,000 per point scored, while Pitlick puts the Stars down just 250k per point. If you’re curious, Mattias Janmark leads the Dallas Stars in this measurement at 100k per point – Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point is tops in the whole league ($49,000 per point).
Of course, this is a completely arbitrary statistic fueled by a website used predominantly for laughing at overpaid players (but seriously, CapFriendly is awesome). There are, still, a lot of reason to be concerned. Obviously, the money you’re paying a guy should on my equate to success on the ice, and this metric is a good indicator of a nice, fair contract.
Let’s see how 2017-18 Martin Hanzal compares to some of the worst free agency signings in the history of the Dallas Stars. Since the salary cap in the NHL continues to rise, I feel it’s only fair to use relatively recent signings in this comparison.
JIRI HUDLER
Everyone remembers where they were when the Dallas Stars had announced the blockbuster signing of aging forward Jiri Hudler, right? It was a bad deal, Hudler was sick for awhile, and there was little actual point production to be had. Still, though, it was a bargain, as the former 70-point scorer went for $2 million for one season.
Hudler was awful. 11 points in 32 games was good for $182k per point, still, which beats the points-per-game pace of Hanzal ($678k). When your contract is so much as in the same group as the Jiri Hudler deal, you’re not in good shape.
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SHELDON SOURAY
Sheldon Souray was a sensational offensive defenseman who four times scored votes for the Norris Trophy, the award given to the best defenseman in the National Hockey League. Souray on the Stars was not great. Souray had 21 points in 64 games (that would be great now, but not then), including just seven points on the power play.
Souray finished 502nd in the league in cost per point, at $257k. Hanzal again, is still way behind. The difference is that Souray grabbed just one year from the Stars, while Hanzal was handed a four-year commitment.
SEAN AVERY
Sean Avery is a garbage fire of a human being and perhaps the worst free agency signing, from all aspects, in the 25-year history of the Dallas Stars. He played just 23 games with the Stars after he was signed to a four-year deal in 2008 before being traded to the New York Rangers.
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Avery scored 10 points and took 77 penalty minutes as the dumpster on skates he is. That’s still good for $347k per point, beating Hanzal’s mark. If you’re worse than Sean Avery, it’s time to reevaluate everything you’ve ever done.
Of course, time will tell how Hanzal’s season progresses and what his points-per-game pace, counting stats, and general impact are like. If Hanzal is contributing in his own way as the PK specialist and fix-it man he is, then we can push point production aside and appreciate his skill, but you would still love to see more from the man.
Martin Hanzal and his contract do not fair well in the large scheme of things. It’s even worse when you consider the success of players like Jason Dickinson in the AHL, and the surprising emergence of Gemel Smith with the Dallas Stars, who could easily replace Hanzal.
Next: Dallas Stars Player Grades After a Month of Play
Hanzal is a very mature player with a lot of NHL experience after 10 years with the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild. His ability to recoup and have an impact on the roster will be on full display, and there are few players you could trust more with the role of the resilient guy from whom more is needed.
Nonetheless, the Stars should really be concerned about Hanzal’s performance and his contract. The foresight was off, but Jim Nill and his crew need to use hindsight to fix an issue that might be.