15-Years to Life

If you haven't heard about New York Islander goalie Rick DiPietro signing a 15-year deal worth $67.5M; then you're probably better off. Much like the firing of Neil Smith as the GM to hire former back-up Garth Snow-- the Isles continue to be the laughingstock of the NHL.

I can understand that the Islanders would like to re-sign their young stars, but there's something wrong with this. DiPietro is a great young talent and still could become a star, yet his inconsistency in his tenure in the NHL thus far has been something of a disappointment for a former #1 overall draft pick.

Someone like Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby could get a deal like this and the respective teams would be applauded for doing such a thing, especially when it comes to getting the players through their prime, but someone like DiPietro could have gone for a lot less, both in price and in tenure. Though with the lack of depth in the Islanders system, maybe this is an ordeal where they wanted to make sure they had a goalie for the next decade and a half.

Often I wonder if the NHL should put something in the league constitution to save owners from themselves. This would right now only apply to Isles owner Charles Wang, especially considering the 10-year deal that he gave to Alexei Yashin before this deal. Of course, this could also work for the old-school owners like Bill Wirtz who seems to want to destroy the home market rather than build it up. It would not only help the team, but keep owner under control.

It's a shame for an Islanders franchise who has four Stanley Cups and has had plenty of hall-of-famers, but now it seems that there are two things going down in Long Island: the ship and some iced teas.