Each NHL team’s worst contract heading into the 2019-20 season

Edmonton Oilers – Milan Lucic

Contract: $6 million cap hit over the next four seasons; full no-movement clause; eight-team trade list in 2021-22, 10-team trade list in 2022-23

The Edmonton Oilers traded Taylor Hall back in 2016. That alone was a terrible move, as he went on to win the Hart Trophy while Adam Larsson has been mediocre at best. A consequence of this move was the eventual signing of Milan Lucic to replace him.

Let’s compare how Lucic and Hall have done since that fiasco.

• Hall – 181 games, 70 goals, 113 assists, 183 points
• Lucic – 243 games, 39 goals, 65 assists, 104 points

But hey, points aren’t everything, right? Let’s compare them by Evolving Hockey’s WAR.

• Hall – 7.7 WAR
• Lucic – -0.3 WAR

It’s clear the Oilers should have just kept Hall and not signed Lucic. Edmonton should have seen all the red flags. The NHL was transitioning to a speed game, where fast players dominate. Lucic isn’t fast.

Yes, he was productive. But even then, Lucic needed to be with the right players to be productive. Aside from a first-year that was saved by his power-play production, he hasn’t come close to living up to his contract. Now, even when Lucic gets to play with Connor McDavid, who is the best player in the league, he doesn’t produce.