At FoxSports, Kyle "Spector" Richardson gives us some of the biggest free agent busts in recent history including Vancouver signing Mark Messier and the Rangers signing Scott Gomez...
On Messier...
"Mark Messier was already a living legend when the Vancouver Canucks signed him in 1997 to a three-year, $20 million contract, expecting his leadership, skills and experience to lift them into Cup contention.
Alas, Messier by then was becoming a spent force no longer capable of carrying a team as he'd done with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers. The Canucks missed the playoffs in each of his three seasons with them."
...unfortunately, Spector could have added Messier's second tour with the Rangers as well.
On Gomez...
"The top free agent signings last summer were Daniel Briere with the Philadelphia Flyers for an average salary of $6.5 million per season over 8 years and Scott Gomez with the N.Y. Rangers for seven seasons averaging $7.37 million per.
While both players finished second in scoring with their respective teams (Briere with 72 points, Gomez 70) and were key factors in the Flyers and Rangers making the playoffs, critics are suggesting they were grossly overpaid.
If Briere and Gomez fail to consistently elevate their production beyond the 70 point mark in the coming years, their hefty contracts could end up doing more harm than good to their respective teams by eating up valuable cap space."
...way too early for a verdict on Gomez signing. Spector will be singing a different tune if Gomez leads the Rangers to a Stanley Cup in the next six years.
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