With more than half the season in the bag and free agency just five months away, I thought it’d be interesting to look at which pending unrestricted NHL free agents have hurt their cause the most when it comes to getting a raise on their next contracts.
Here are a few who stand out.
G – Ben Bishop – Tampa Bay Lightning
A year ago Ben Bishop was in the midst of a season where he started 60 games, stopped .926% of the shots he faced and was one of the key cogs on a Tampa Bay Lightning team many considered to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. As a result of his strong play, he finished second to Braden Holtby in voting for the Vezina Trophy.
Following the year, he owned a career save percentage of better than .920 and had hit that plateau in two of three seasons as Tampa Bay’s uncontested starter. Having put up those type of numbers, it seemed inevitable Bishop would land a massive contract on the open market come July. That no longer seems likely.
Bishop is in the midst of what many would consider a horrible season. He has won just 12 times in 27 starts and owns a .904 save percentage, which is well below league average.
To put into perspective how much Bishop has struggled, he ranks 28th among 37 goaltenders in save percentage among those who have started at least 20 games. Of those 37, only Petr Mrazek, Calvin Pickard, and Jaroslav Halak, who is now in the AHL, have given their teams Quality Starts in a lesser percentage of their games.
With Bishop struggling, and teams starting to become more wary of giving big money and term to goaltenders, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to land a big contract that once appeared certain.
Brian Elliott – Calgary Flames
Carey Price and Cory Schneider. Of 28 goaltenders to start at least 108 games from 2013-16, those are the only two who bested Brian Elliott’s save percentage of .923 during that span.
He doesn’t have the big-name value many general managers and fans love their starter to have. He played behind a solid defensive team in St. Louis, but teams starved for goaltending help would be forced to pay him well if he were to put together another solid season this year in Calgary.
To date, Elliott hasn’t exactly done that. Far from it, actually.
Of 37 goaltenders who have started 20 games, none of them have posted worse numbers than Elliott. He owns a .895 save percentage and is one of the main reasons an otherwise solid Flames team is sitting outside of the playoffs looking in.
Even if he gets his game together down the stretch, he’ll be lucky to get the $2.5 million annually he’s currently pulling in.
Patrick Sharp – Dallas Stars
In 2015-16, Sharp’s first season as a member of the Stars, he scored 20 goals, tallied 55 points and was one of the most important players on a team that won the toughest division in hockey.
Fast forward a year and things are much different for Sharp. He has missed almost as many games (26) as he has played (28) and he is producing at a 36 point pace over 82 games. If he were producing at the same rate as last year, he’d come in at a hair under 60 points.
So Sharp, now 35, is having problems staying healthy and his production is way down when he does play.
That doesn’t bode well for him when it comes to negotiating a new contract, be it in Dallas or elsewhere.
Pucks in Depth: Three Pending UFAs In Line For Raises This Off-season
Written by Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell)
