Five worst signings from first day of 2026 NHL free agency

The NHL's free-agent signing period opened on Wednesday, and we already looked at the best fits and the best values. Now it is time to look at some of the worst values and worst signings of the day.

Just as the case with the best values, this only looks at players who were unrestricted free agents. Players who still had term left on their remaining contracts and re-signed are excluded (so that means no Bowen Byram with the Chicago Blackhawks). 

1. Jacob Trouba, San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are building something special with their young talent, and there is a great foundation in place.

But now comes the hard part of trying to build around them and complement them with veterans.

The Sharks are not off to a great start here.

Along with trading for all of Darnell Nurse's remaining contract ($9 million per year for another four years) on Wednesday, they also signed Jacob Trouba to a four-year, $32 million deal.

It's hard to find the logic in it.

Trouba is a hard-hitting, physical veteran, but he has limited value in terms of actually impacting the game and is very much on the downside of his career. The Sharks had the salary-cap space to work with, but spending $17 million on Trouba and Nurse over the next four years is not a great use of it. Nor does it move the needle much toward making them a Stanley Cup contender anytime soon. 

2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Toronto Maple Leafs

Bobrovsky won two Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers, but the Maple Leafs are probably getting him a few years too late — for too much money, over too many years. 

Bobrovsky is not only 38 years old, he is coming off the worst season of his career and was one of the league's worst goalies during the 2025-26 season. 

Signing him for $7 million per year over the next three years is a massive risk at a position that could completely sink the rest of the team. 

3. Rasmus Andersson, Vegas Golden Knights

While Andersson, 29, was a member of the Golden Knights in the second half of the 2025-26 season and in the playoffs, he was also technically an unrestricted free agent and could have signed elsewhere.

He chose to re-sign in Vegas for $59.5 million over seven years. 

While Andersson has had a strong career and is coming off a big offensive season, his defensive impacts have regressed in recent years and it's a contract that might not age particularly well as he gets deeper into his 30s. Vegas is a win-now team, but it's also a team that is close to the cap, and this seems like an uncharacteristically questionable choice for an organization that usually gets things right. 

4. Colton Sissons, Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs really worked to overhaul their depth forward group on Wednesday, and they made some solid moves in doing so. 

The Sissons contract was not one of them. 

At best he's a fourth-line forward with some defensive impact. But will it be enough impact to justify a $4.25 million salary-cap number over the next two seasons?

That seems highly, highly unlikely. 

5. Jeff Viel, Tampa Bay Lightning

This is just a weird one. Playing in a division with the Florida Panthers likely means the Lightning will want some toughness in their lineup, and Viel definitely brings that, but he doesn't really bring much else to the table. Paying him $2.5 million per year over the next five years to get into scrums with various Panthers players just doesn't seem like the type of things an otherwise-good Lightning team really needs.