(2) Alexei Yashin v. (10) Marc Savard

This here is the last quarterfinal match in the Not-So-Sweet Sixteen and pits two forwards not currently playing in the NHL against one another. Alexei Yashin went to the KHL after being bought out and hasn't been back to North America since. He was dominant in his first round match against Dion Phaneuf, taking the vote 320-55. Marc Savard, meanwhile, scored a - to me, anyway - shocking upset in the first round against Shawn Horcoff, beating him 170-130. But as shocking as that one was, it would pale in comparison to a second upset victory here.

Alexei Yashin

For a money-poor team like the Islanders, a contract like this one is about as bad as it gets for the next four years. At least in 2010-11 the club could save some money against the cap because of how the buy-out was calculated, but going forward, that isn't going to be the case. Instead, the team is spending $2.2M in budget and cap room for the next four years for a guy who won't play a single game. It's hard to imagine a contract being worse than that.

Marc Savard

Could this contract be worse? It's certainly possible, but would require Marc Savard to be healthy enough to play but not healthy enough to contribute at a high level, which may in fact be what happens. The structure of the deal implies that Savard likely wasn't going to play the last two and perhaps three years of this deal from the day it was signed, which means we're trying to figure out how much less than $4M per season Savard could be worth over the next three years. Could he be worth less than $1.5M against the cap if he stays healthy? If he is, what are the odds of him retiring? I've got to be honest here. Savard is probably going to killed this round. It might even be unanimous.

The Bracket