The DiPietro era is over

Rick DiPietro wasn't seen very often
in an New York Islanders uniform
over the last five years.
Photo courtesy of zimbio.com

The New York Islanders thought they had the goaltender of the future when they signed Rick DiPietro to a 15-year deal back in 2006.

Seven years later, the Isles are buying out the remainder of DiPietro's deal and sending him into the free agent market, where the soon-to-be 32-year-old will likely find it difficult to latch on to another NHL team.

Where did it all go wrong for the former No. 1 overall draft pick? Injuries claimed a huge chunk of his Nassau County career, but he wasn't all that impressive when he was healthy (career record of 130-136-8 with a 2.87 GAA and a .902 save percentage). Since 2008, he played in a total of 50 NHL games and won 14 of them, and he never had a save percentage higher than .900 in that time frame.

This past season was DiPietro's swan song -- at least, with the Isles. He lost all three games he started before being shipped to the AHL's Bridgeport SoundTigers, where he posted a 9-9-0 record with a 2.93 GAA and a .893 save percentage. The fact that DiPietro continued to struggle after being sent down to the minors is probably what led the Isles to completely give up on him.

What's interesting is that the Islanders might not have a veteran goaltender when training camp opens in September. The rumor is that Evgeni Nabokov -- who guided the Isles to the playoffs with a 23-11-7 record and a 2.50 GAA in the regular season -- will leave Long Island via free agency. And with DiPietro gone, that leaves Kevin Poulin (21 career games played) as the goalie with the most experience on the roster. Poulin could turn out to be a solid goalie, but do the Isles really want to begin the 2013-14 season without a veteran NHL netminder? Seems like general manager Garth Snow should hit the market to find some help.

Meanwhile, Rick DiPietro will have to hope some NHL team will want him.