Retooling the defense has been a major focus for the Nashville Predators, but two defensemen's contracts have come under scrutiny.
In an article published by The Athletic on Thursday, Dom Luszczyszyn ranked defensemen Brady Skjei and Nicolas Hague's contracts as the fourth and fifth worst contracts in the NHL.
Nashville was the only team in the article to have two contracts in the top 10 rankings.
Skeji is in year two of a 7-year, $49 million contract, with an annual hit of $7 million. Hague signed a 4-year, $22 million contract, with an annual hit of $5.5 million in July.
Luszczyszyn said that despite Skeji's acquisition during the 2024 free agency period looking like a "win," the defenseman had a "steep drop-off" in his first season with the Predators.
He scored 33 points in 82 games and had a plus/minus of -24. It was a 14-point drop-off and a plus/minus decrease of 40 from his previous season with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Luszczyszyn noted that Nashville needs a strong No. 2/3 defenseman, but Skeji appears more suited to a fourth-line role. Considering his age and regression, the contract puts the Predators in a difficult spot.
On the flip side, while Skjei has regressed, Hague has yet to prove that he is a No. 2/3 defenseman, which is the role Nashville is expecting him to take on.
Luszczyszyn claims that Hague's acquisition is based more on height and less on his on-ice play. Hague is 6 feet 6 inches.
"It seems there’s a growing trend for teams to pay defensemen per inch rather than per win lately, and that’s how Hague was paid to be a No. 3 defenseman despite a career being a third-pair guy," Luszczyszyn wrote.
During his six seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, Hague did win a Stanley Cup in 2023, but he has not played in a top-four role nor had more than 17 points in a single season. This past season, he scored 12 points in 68 games and had a plus/minus of -2, the lowest among Vegas defensemen.
Considering that General Manager Barry Trotz has historically gone after bigger and more physical defensemen, the Hague acquisition may be a swing and a miss.