Tampa Bay Lightning: Top 5 Worst Contracts In Team History

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed many players over the organizations 23 year history, but there are some that still make us shake our head.

There comes a time for every team that they take on or sign a player to a long term contract hoping that they reap the rewards for the financial investment made in that player. Sometimes these deals actually work out, but most of the time these deals are made when a player is in the prime of their career or are just exiting their prime. This comes with the risk of a player not performing up to the contract at the time of its signing, even if it is four or five years down the road.

The Tampa Bay Lightning organization has made many quality signings in its history that have created many successful teams over the years. Some may include the three-year contracts given to Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat or the signing of Anton Stralman to a five-year deal as a free agent, but there have been some long term deals that have not really worked out.

Some of these players were free agent signings that the respective General Manager who signed them believed would help the team. Others were players that were already on the team that had expiring contracts or extensions of a current contract that had a year or more of club control left. In this article, we will discuss the top five worst contracts in Tampa Bay Lightning history.

Next: Number 5: Matt Carle