They don't earn major headlines, but the summer hockey landscape is littered with veterans who have signed a one-year contract with the goal of impressing a team enough to earn just one more multiyear deal. And if it doesn't work out? Ask Alexander Semin, who last summer signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens after being bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes. He played 15 games, was placed on waivers by December and was last seen winning a KHL title.
"Players used to get paid for what they had done in the league.