The Long Haul

Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders goalie and former number one pick from the 2000 NHL Draft, was signed by the team to a 15-year extension, a new league record for contract length. The contract will pay him $67.5 million over the life of the deal ($4.5 million a year) and will likely keep him with the Isles for the rest of his career, which is what DiPietro wanted. To me, this is great. This is an athlete who is happy and wants to be with his current team and signed a contract to prove it. The contract is a good one for both sides. DiPietro gets the security of a long-term contract, while the Islanders lock up an important player without using a large amount of cap space (his salary will be a little more than 10% of the salary cap in 2006-07, and likely a lower percentage of the cap in the future). I commend both sides for getting this done.