If It Wasn't For That Contract...

You can call me crazy all you want, but I think Rick DiPietro could still be a serviceable goaltender in the NHL....if it wasn't for that pesky long-term contract. Of course, if this leads to some sort of amnesty buy-out, then it may be worth it to take a flier on him as a free agent. 

The onus of DiPietro is the contract and the history of injuries he has had in the past half-decade. Yet, many forget that after signing that contract he had a career year with a 32-19-9 record. Granted, he's been limited to 50 games (including this season) since 2008, but beforehand, he was a decent goalie-- maybe not for the length of contract, but at $4.5M-- the price was right and would probably be right in this climate. 

Yet, it's hard to separate DiPietro the goalie and DiPietro the contract. With another eight years left on the 15 year deal, many teams aren't going to pick that up, especially since he hasn't been able to be effective in those 50 games (14-27-7)-- which may not make him worth that money, either. That's where the amnesty buy-out could be the only way to get around getting DiPietro off the books, though the Islanders would need that to stay at the salary floor. 

Despite the defense of the Islanders not necessarily being the best, DiPietro didn't do himself any favors when it comes to holding down the Islanders net. His performance may also be tied to the coaching, condition, and handling of DiPietro, as well as the on-going revolving door of goalies-- picked up through waivers and stockpiled in the minors-- that the Isles have had. It can't help an already fragile goalie mentally to know that there's five or six guys gunning for his spot-- thus makes him overwork and over-conditioning and leads to injuries. 

Would he be an asset in a better system and a better way of life?? Only without the contract he currently has. That's the only way that DiPietro will get the fair shake he needs to get his career back on track. However, he's also 31-years-old and that contract will continue to weigh him down if the Islanders cannot deal him and it would be another disappointing footnote on a career of a goalie that had so much promise before his debut. 

Taking the Turco Chance

Last night, I was opining on Twitter about how the Ottawa Senators should possibly look at getting Marty Turco into their fold, if for nothing else but to rely on him going down the stretch. Especially after Marty Turco's solid display for his first game with Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian League (resulting in a 4-1 win); it wouldn't be the worst idea since he has an out-clause to it.

That said, odds are that if Marty Turco does sign and try to come over, he will get picked up on the waiver wire like Evgeni Nabokov did last season, but that's something that Senators might have to risk.

You see, the Senators have rode Craig Anderson for the last 17 games straight. That shows that Paul MacLean really doesn't show much faith in back-up Alex Auld and that Anderson will earn his contract. That said, the surprising Sens will need more than to hope Anderson doesn't burn-out if they want to make the playoffs and really shock the world for a team that wasn't supposed to even content at all.

Sure, there could be a better alternative in the trade market, and especially with the caveat of Turco having to got through the waiver wire-- it would be a risk, but if he falls through the cracks; a nice insurance policy. Turco looks like he wants to be on a contender, which is what the Senators could become with him in the line-up.

The thing with Turco is that if he does get picked up on the waiver wire-- who could be the person to do it?? You could think the Columbus Blue Jackets would go after him-- but he didn't seem to willing to go there when he had the chance to. The San Jose Sharks could be a team that could get with Turco, though Thomas Greiss has played alright and Antero Niittymaki is on the outs with the franchise; though that insurance policy would be nice for a team who really needs to prove something in the playoffs. Even the Calgary Flames may want to take a shot if the price is right-- but I highly doubt it with their lack of cap space and contract space, as well.

Marty Turco will be on a NHL team before the trade deadline and it's my belief that he'll play in the NHL this year. With what team is really the question. Also, if he gets picked up on waivers by a team he doesn't want to be with-- does he pull a Nabokov and not play for the season?? Does it matter to him if he can get a shot back in the NHL?? We've got about three weeks to find out if someone takes a chance and he takes a chance on them.

The Case of Sean Avery

With the waiving and subsequent sending down of Sean Avery, the big question is whether or not anyone will see Sean Avery on an ice rink in a hockey playing capacity ever again. With one more year remaining on his current contract and then three teams having to pay him if he's picked up on re-entry waivers; the odds are slim unless someone wants to take a big chance.

However, oddly enough-- that's to the wonder that is FOHS's resident accountant, JonnyP-- if every team picked-up Avery on waivers and then put him back on re-entry waivers; the last two teams would only have to pay $0.0072 for his contract. Fun facts.

But still-- the biggest thing working against Avery is the fact he is a loose cannon. While he does have a great amount of actual hockey skill; the fact he takes greater pride in being an instigator...and then not knowing when to draw the line in that makes many teams wonder if it's worth the risk to have a guy out there like that. Sure, he'll draw a key penalty; but at what point do you think he'll be able to know when to draw the line.

That's why the Rangers were the best fit for him, because he had a coach like John Tortorella who knew when to pull the leash on him and keep him in line and focused; to which Avery responded most of the time. Other teams are going to look behind their bench and maybe give their coach a break for trying to deal with a guy like that; not so much that the coach couldn't handle it-- but because of the stress that it could cause trying to keep an eye on someone like Avery, as well as the rest of the bench could take it's toll.

Then there's the distractions on Avery's behalf, mostly because he's a guy who does seem like he want to have his hand in other interests outside of hockey, so putting him in a place where he doesn't have that outside stimulus-- while it's the best place for him to focus on hockey-- would make him a restless soul to deal with and then he goes out and does something stupid to make himself and team look back. We all remember the Dallas incident, so there's that.

Personally-- I would enjoy seeing Avery back in the NHL because he's the prototypical guy who's going from the goon mentality to the agitator mentality. Plus, when he wants to be a solid offensive player, he actually can be. It's not like he's a one-trick pony. However, that fate for this year is held in the hands of Glen Sather and Avery. After his contract runs out, I doubt many teams will make a move unless they see an attitude change-- which is a bit disappointing, but understandable. Time will tell.

On the Topic of Evgeni Nabokov

We've all had the weekend to reflect, we've all had the weekend to hear from those involved, and now it's time to get opinions. Not the knee-jerk ones like when it happened, but more thought out and logical ones. However, when I think about it all, I keep coming back to something the fantastic Ryan Classic said-- Nabokov and his agent misread the NHL market once again.

When Nabokov came back from Russia, he was on the clock to make a decision and to be honest, no many thought he would come off his stance like in the off-season, where he wanted somewhere between $5-6 million for his services. Yet, at $570K, who's NOT going to put a claim in, especially if you're near the bottom. There's a lot of people wondering why the New York Islanders put a claim in, knowing that he probably wouldn't report.

The answer to that is simple-- Garth Snow is in the business of making his team better if he believes Nabokov could do that. When they dealt Dwayne Roloson, you had to wonder if Rick DiPietro could carry the load. With trips to the IR, the answer is no. So, rather than wear out young guys like Nate Lawson and Kevin Poulin-- why not pick up Nabokov for the rest of the year in order to give the youngsters more seasoning and take some pressure off of DiPietro's fragile body. The whole start of this was that Nabokov wanted to go to a team where he would get a lot of playing time, before he said he wanted to be on a Cup contender. What better place to go than Long Island, show yourself off and then hope to get a contract with a better team in the next season??

The point of the waiver system is so that free agents can't come and go as they please. It's a fail-safe system to guys who decided at the start of the year they wanted to play overseas rather than take a menial job in the NHL or be sent to the AHL. The Blues can attest to the fact that the waivers is a crapshoot when it comes to guys (they lost Marek Svatos and Kyle Wellwood to the same thing), but in the end, it's a safe-haven so that no one can cry foul when someone who was overseas decided they can't cut it over there and want to come back to the NHL; everyone gets a crack and no one is slighted in this process.

With Nabokov, people are saying that as a player; he should be able to go where he wants-- even equating it to real-life scenarios. This isn't real life-- this is sports. Plus, it's not like he's doing something different, like being an usher for the Isles or playing centerfield for the Mets; he'll be a goalie, but in a different market.

Nabokov had the choice to pick who he wanted in July and when no one would give him the money he wanted, he went to Russia to a team who would give him the money. You cannot blame him for that, we all want to get paid. However, he wasn't up to snuff in the KHL, his family didn't like it there, and he asked for his release. Since he chose the KHL over the NHL, I believe-- as does the NHL with the waiver rules-- that he shouldn't be allowed to just go to whomever he wants. If he wanted to stay in the NHL, he should have lowered his price in July and we wouldn't be having this debate. Since he turned his back to the NHL, he needs to go through the process and be accessible to all the teams. Obviously, people will say that free agency is like this and to a point, they are correct. However, when it happens during the season, it's not free anymore

Kudos to Snow for wanting to actually improve his team and show that he wants to get his team better. Nabokov may have wanted to be on a Stanley Cup contender when he decided to come back, but if he was really serious about doing that-- he shouldn't have been so hard-line with his demands this summer, nor should he have been shocked when his price goes down drastically that the worst team wanted to have their mitts on you. Will Nabokov be looked down upon if he doesn't report?? Maybe, especially when the contract is up. The Islanders can't do any worse, let's be honest. Will Nabokov will be looked down upon if he DOES show up?? Time will tell.

Friday Five: Week of Waivering

With all the moving and shaking on the waiver-wire, we get to the Friday Five with probably the biggest fish on the waiver-wire as the weekend starts up....if he makes it that far.

1. Evgeni Nabokov signed with the Red Wings, but has to go through the waiver process. Where will he end up??

There's a lot of things going on about how the Red Wings will keep them and the deal they're going to strike up with the New Jersey Devils, who have first priority of the team. However, there's the obvious candidates of the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators, but the San Jose Sharks could be in the market-- which would be ironic when it comes to Nabokov leaving the Sharks because he was low-balled in the contract negotiations. But at $570k, he's very affordable for any team that could need a veteran presence in net. Nabokov hits waivers at 12:01 PM ET Friday.

2. The St. Louis Blues seemed to be bit by the waiver bug, as they've had two guys plucked from waivers for them. Who did they piss off to have something like this to happen??

The Blues seem to bring about the affordable contract that's very enticing to other teams out there. Yet, while the Marek Svatos loss hurt, I don't think that Kyle Wellwood getting plucked off is too much of a big deal. Even so, you have to feel bad for the Blues-- who have been bit by the injury bug in a bad way, and just needed to get some more guys in order to stay competitive while guys like TJ Oshie and David Perron are on the mend. Plus, it seems that Jaroslav Halak and the rest of the team hit a bit of a skid, but have gotten a little bit back on track since then. Luckily, the Blues are only three points out of the 8th spot in the West and no one seems to want to take control of the final playoff spot, which could suit the Blues fine if they can keep playing consistently.

3. Could the coaching change in New Jersey really have turned the Devils around??

While they are 23 points out of a playoff spot, the coaching changes seems to have brought back the Devils in some aspect. The Devils have won four of their last five and scored 20 goals in those games. Martin Brodeur has had a bounce-back to sorts, while Ilya Kovalchuk finally woke up a slight bit during this. While they won't make the playoffs and actually ruin their chance to get the first overall pick, but they will do their best to save face and try to actually show they're a better team than 2010 showed this season.

4. Don Cherry says a new head shot rule isn't needed, it's just more respect between players. How crazy is he??

To be honest, and I may be an apologist for Cherry, but he's right to a point. The respect between players isn't there anymore and that's something that should be spotted when you see a lot of these plays that result in serious injury. Now, not only is it up for the NHL to maybe define the head shot a little better and clearer, but the NHLPA has to step up and talk to their membership about the lack of respect there. Question why they would go out and take out a vulnerable guy, even though both guys are in the same membership and are just trying to make a living playing a game. While there's a rule needed, Cherry is right when it comes to respect being a focal point, as well.

5. The All-Star captains are Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom. People are doing mock drafts for who's going to get picked in the pick-up game format. Biggest question-- who's picked last??

Scientifically, it really depends on how the picks go. We've all played some kind of pick-up sport in school or recreationally that you usually try to take advantage of bad picks because of friendships, but you also adapt to the pick of the other captain. My two picks for the last pick are Brent Burns and Claude Giroux. With Burns, there's a lot of good defensemen and he's probably lost in the fold when it comes to the other all-stars. Giroux could also get lost in the fold, but I don't think as badly as Burns would. Giroux is a solid player, but is he better or more revered than other skaters on that list?? Probably not, but he'll be a good addition and may get picked towards the bottom. If I had to pick on, Burns would be my ultimate last pick.

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That's another week and if you have any topics during the week when it comes what you want to see in the Friday Five, Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com is the place to send stuff to and I'll do what I can to touch on them at the week's end.