NHL: Yes, The Flyers Are Still Stupid

The Philadelphia Flyers have long had a well-deserved reputation for being a bunch of dimwit thugs. When your team is run by the likes of Booby Clarke and Paul Holmgren, you ought to expect a bevy of bad business decisions.

Today's laughable news from Philly comes in the form of a disgustingly stupid long-term contract for defenseman Andrew McDonald.

The terms? 6 years, $30mil - cap hit of $5mil per season.

If you don't know who Andrew McDonald is, don't be alarmed. He's an slight-above-average-at-best defenseman who is known for blocking shots and not much else.

Sure, McDonald was set to be an unrestricted free agent, but that doesn't mean the Flyers needed to open Scrooge's vault to let him dive into. Let some other team sign him to a dumb contract. In the era of salary caps, every dollar poorly spent hurts.

Of course, this is the team that still has Chris Pronger on the books for a $5mil/season cap hit. Ha!

How does this new contract compare to his peers? CapGeek has the 20 best comparables.

For real perspective, compare his new contract to those of two Canadian Olympians!

Jay Bouwmeester - $5,400,000
Andrew McDonald - $5,000,000
Dan Hamhuis - $4,500,000

McDonald is nowhere near the skill level of these other two defenseman, yet is getting paid like a star.  As somebody who does not like the Flyers, this contract does make me laugh...as well as shake my head in disgust.

Even the Flyers bloggers think this deal is crazy.