Those who were worried about the Islanders' goaltending situation can now begin worrying even more about the health of Rick DiPietro. The Islanders signed former Philadelphia Flyer and Buffalo Sabres goaltender Martin Biron to a one-year contract today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed; they also don't really matter. I'll assume it's a one-way contract worth at least the $2.5 million the Islanders are already paying Dwayne Roloson.
So here we are. The Islanders are paying Rick DiPietro $4.5 million this year. They're paying Roloson $2.5 million this year. They're now paying Biron upwards of $2 million a year. NHL teams only carry two goaltenders. In other words, there will be a high-priced goaltender in the Islanders' press box for 82 nights next year. Unless, of course, Rick DiPietro is more injured than the team is letting on.
None of this should be constituted as a knock on Biron. He was considered the heir apparent to Dominik Hasek in Buffalo and played well until Ryan Miller emerged after the lockout. Biron then headed to Philadelphia, where he was the key figure in the Flyers' 2008 run to the conference finals. Because the Flyers organization is apparently required to have a chaotic goaltending situation, Biron wasn't offered a new contract, though he was linked with teams such as Detroit and San Jose as a sort of "super back-up".
When I texted the news to Zach a few moments ago, his response was, "Wow, I guess DP is really done." This will be the sentiment all across Islanders country. Frankly, there's no reason to think anything else, just as there's no reason to sign two #1 goalies if your current starter is healthy and capable. While we all welcome Martin Biron to the New York Islanders organization, we can't help but distractedly wonder what's really going on with Rick DiPietro.
EDIT: As per Darren Dreger, the deal is worth $1.4 million. Not a bad price. Still doesn't make sense. Clearly, the 2009-10 season doesn't end with all three of these guys on the Island.
This means that the team has added FOUR new goaltenders, including two highish draft picks, one of those being the first goaltender taken. I don't think this is even a case of "he's hurt this year", I think this is a case of "we have no faith in the goaltender we signed to a 15 year contract".
ReplyDeleteThat means every person that's signed to one of those massive deals has been a disaster. DiPietro's hurt. Lecavlier's looking longingly at Montreal. These deals are disasters.
They aren't "disasters." The Hossa deal is fantastic because it's really an 8 year deal but for 5.2 million instead of 7.8 (no clue how it will turn out but in theory it's much better).
ReplyDeleteThe DP deal would've been GREAT if he had stayed healthy. $4.5M for a starting goalie in the prime of his career would've been fantastic, but alas, no.
Mike Richards getting 12 years, $69M after 2 great months back in '07 was crazy, but it's the new trend, I guess.
Hey, maybe they're telling him to take 3 years off to heal then he'll come back, for what, 9 more years?