DiPietro Officially Bought Out

ISLANDERS TRANSACTION: #Isles announce compliance buyout on goaltender Rick DiPietro's contract http://t.co/5BR7VAuZir
— NYIslanders (@NYIslanders) July 3, 2013

Best of luck to Rick. I hope he finds a job somewhere soon. A backup role in the NHL but a AHL or Europe deal may be the best for him right now. At 31 still has time for a comeback.

Looking Back & Moving Forward

So for the first time I went to Long Island to experience the Islanders Draft Party and I have to say it was fun to go to. While I was talking to a few fans, my colleague from Isles Talk  Gary Harding and I noticed two guys in Islanders Polo's and they were hockey players signing autographs. We had no clue who they were. Then Chris King made the announcement that they were in fact newly signed players, one of them was Parker Milner, a goalie from Boston College. "Wait a minute!" was the first sentence in my head. I had known about Kenny Reiter resigning in Bridgeport, but now I thought to myself there's a lot of goalies in Bridgeport this year. I knew something was going to happen.

Isles Not Interested In Luongo

League source says #Isles not one of the teams inquiring about Luongo. That certainly doesn't mean they won't try to upgrade in net
— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) June 26, 2013

My take: there's two possibilities here: 1. Nabokov is still close to signing 2. The Islanders may have their eyes on someone else for the short term. But at least now, as of this post, the Isles will not be pursuing Luongo. Could that change on draft day, maybe, but not likely. The longer Nabokov goes unsigned, the less likely he is to return. But if the Islanders stick to their plan, then the Poulin/Nilsson combination will be the future of the organization and there may only need to be a short term goaltender for this coming year. If Nilsson has a season worthy of being brought up, then the Isles will not need a starting goalie for more than a year. I also believe that is why DiPietro may not be bought out until next year. DP could at least be a backup to Poulin this year if something happens to the starter. If it's clear Nilsson is ready, DP will be bought out next year.  

Update 5:30pm

Talks between the #Isles and Nabokov have come to a standstill. The soon-to-be 38yo goalie with test the free agency market come July 5
— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) June 26, 2013

Well, there goes possibility number one. I'm going to say this now: The draft on Sunday will be interesting. Given that Snow has made trades before draft day, look for something to start by Saturday. If a trade does not work out...we'll worry about that on Monday.... 

First It's Luongo, Then Bernier, Now Back To Luongo

From Joe Yerdon:

 Where does Roberto Luongo go now?

 New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro isn’t the answer and Evgeni Nabokov is an elder statesman who looked weak in the playoffs. He’s also a free agent this summer. The Isles also have a disgruntled prospect who reportedly wants out in Nino Niederreiter who would make a great trade chip. The two teams have been linked before, so why not send Lu back to the Island?

My take: Folks, this has more to do with bad contracts than it does the players. In order for a trade to work, DiPietro would have to be involved. Vancouver would have to buy out one of these contracts. On the plus side, I think Luongo would be an upgrade over Nabokov and could get a few more years out of him while the obvious downside is his contract. Forget the money, it's just too long. Anything more than 5 is just too much. The Islanders have to see what they have in Poulin and Nilsson this year, which is why I will say again, I don't think the Islanders HAVE to buy out DP this summer. Signing Nabokov to a one year deal allows the Islanders the flexibility they need to make proper moves either heading into the season or at the trade deadline. If Niederreiter gets his shot at the NHL and makes the club out of camp this year then there is no disgruntled prospect who wants out. He just wants to play in the NHL.  He's had a good junior career, made the AHL All-Star team and now is just looking for a chance to prove his worth to the Islanders or anybody else.

Rumor Roundup: Islanders Believed To Have Interest In Luongo

It's believed NYI would, under right circumstances, have interest in VAN G Roberto Luongo, tho 1st order of biz is to gauge cost on Nabokov.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 30, 2013

Just when I thought this was going to be a quiet, warm day. Well, it still is, but is this certainly news worthy when it's coming from Bob McKenzie.  As stated by Bob as well, Rick DiPietro would have to be involved in the deal. Two almost identical contracts, but Loungo has more years. What's the difference? Luongo can help the Islanders now. The Rangers are in a little bit of a mess, Washington's goaltender Brandon Holtby doesn't come close to Luongo, Brodeur is close to retiring and the Islanders just wrecked any kind of confidence out of Marc-Andre Fleury. Will this trade go down? Any other team else steps in? We'll find out.

DiPietro On A List Of Potential Buyouts

From Le Journal De Montreal: A good list of potential buyouts around the NHL include some interesting players. The ten mentioned are as follows: Tomas Kaberle (Montreal), Mike Komisarek (Toronto), Ilya Bryzgalov (Philadelphia),  Keith Ballard (Vancouver),  Brad Richards (New York Rangers), Daniel Brière (Philadelphia), Anton Volchenkov (New Jersey), Rick DiPietro (New York Islanders), Dany Heatley (Minnesota), Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay).

My take: I don't see Lecavalier nor Volchenkov being bought out. It's been reported that Briere will be bought out. The others will remain to be seen. This just makes a point that this offseason will be different in that these free agents are now being added to a group that before the end of this season, was not looking good at all. It's not a major improvement, but you should see a trend of teams making moves to get under the new cap ceiling. That's where the Isles come into play. As of this writing, Capgeek.com has the Islanders payroll at just under 36 million for net year. Even on a budget, the Islanders can absorb a decent contract and still be near the budget they want to be at and resign their free agents as well.  As for DiPietro, he should be on this list, but for some reason (call it a gut feeling) I don't think the Isles will buy him out this year. Management may want to see what they have in Poulin and a healthy Nilsson next year and make a decision on Mikko Koskinen, who is playing very well over in Europe. The Islanders have the option of buyouts either in this summer or next, so there is no pressure for them (except from the peer pressure of the fans) to make a move like that just yet.