Fifteen years??
Oh my. Doctors don’t even have to commit to school for 15 years, but the New York Islanders are jumping in with both feet on this one.
Yesterday, the always entertaining (except on the ice) Islanders announced they have signed star goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15-year contract that will pay him $67.5 million dollars over the term.
The deal reportedly breaks down to $4.5 million a year for the 15 years, and is also said to be guaranteed – even in the case of injury.
What will the Islanders think of next?
I’ve read some bits coming from both sides of this (side one: the Islanders are stupid, side two: what’s a starting goalie going to be worth in 10 years?), and they all make sense. I’m from the side of the fence that always worries about precedent.
What’s to stop Alex Ovechkin from walking into George McPhee’s office this morning and demanding a 15-year deal at the end of his current contract?
Such a deal would keep Ovechkin in
What’s to stop a team like Ottawa from giving a player like Jason Spezza a similar 15-year deal, maybe worth more money ($5.5-$6 million per), being hamstrung by the deal when it no longer makes sense in the league’s economic framework, and using the albatross of a contract as an excuse for their inability to compete? Sound familiar?
The Isles have never used their 10 year Alexei Yashin deal as an excuse, but with one player taking up nearly 20 per cent of their cap space last year (only about 16 this year), the Isles just don’t have the options other teams do.
But instead of being a cynical jerk about this deal, maybe I should be glad a player drafted after free agency opened up is going to play a 20-year career with one team, and that his team wants him to play his 20-year career there.
It’s an unorthodox deal, and 15 years sure is a long time, but let’s see how this thing goes.
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