Reports surfaced today that although a new CBA hasn't been agreed to yet, certain aspects have. One of them is the inclusion of two amnesty buyouts for teams. What this means is that teams will be able to buy out up to two players without it effecting their cap space.
For the Islanders this led many to speculate that goalie Rick Dipietros days are numbered. At the height of his play back in the summer of 2006 the Islanders locked the goalie up to a 15 year 67.5 million dollar contract. Since then though, the injury bug has caught up with Dipietro limiting him to less than 50 games in the last four seasons. Many fans argue that with the move to Brooklyn Dipietro should be bought out for a fresh start and as a symbol of moving on from that era.
Unfortunately for fans, both Chris Botta and Arthur Staple said they don't think the Islanders will use an amnesty buyout on Dipietro. BD Gallof later agreed with them. BD said that hes been told that Wang won't spend more then he has to with DP. Arthur Staple also noted that the cap space isn't a dire need for the team right now which makes paying a large lump sum which this would be less likely.
I think it is pretty obvious to anyone who has seen the Islanders and specifically DP play in the last two years that he is no longer an NHL goalie. To keep DP on the roster instead of using a buyout on him would be slap in the face to fans and yet another signal that the team isn't serious about competing which would be unfortunate.
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