In what seems like a very surprising move, Garth Snow has announced just a short while ago that the New York Islanders have come to terms on a one-year, $1.4 million contract with goaltender Martin Biron. Martin Biron played for the Philadelphia Flyers for the last two years, and was acquired by the Flyers from the Buffalo Sabres at the 2007 NHL Trading Deadline.Justin's Opinion: After receiving a call from my friend informing me of the signing, I took a few minutes to sit back and browse around and see what people were saying. Everything ranging from "Rick's retiring" to "We are amazing in net" has hit the Islanders message boards. Let us settle down and look at this from an intelligent hockey perspective. We all know that DiPietro has undergone several surgeries, with the last one possibly occuring as recently as this past March. While I do believe he will be present at the Islanders training camp, I believe that he will be doing a lot of solo work.
The signing of Martin Biron simply is a further insurance policy in the health of DiPietro. Yes, DiPietro will be back with the New York Islanders, and yes, he is still going to be their starting goalie for many years to come. The signing of Biron simply demonstrates one thing, and one thing only: Rick DiPietro will not be ready to play for at least the first 25 games of this season, and Biron was brought into as a veteran netminder to help provide the Islanders with solid goaltending every night, whether it be himself in net, or Roloson.
Why is this smart? Well, Biron, who I believe is a decent goalie, will provide some great goaltending, but he will also have value come the midpoint of the season. The Islanders could essentially carry three goalies if they want to, and then come the midpoint of the year or whenever DiPietro is healthy, Biron can be traded to a team that is in need of a goalie, and possibly for a decent return. Every year, at least one team loses their starting goalie to injury, and they search furiously for a replacement. For the 2009-2010 season, I believe that Biron will be the goalie that team's will inquire about if their's goes down to injury, and Garth Snow will be all ears!
Just a quick opinion, take it for what it's worth, but I believe this may be a smart move with long-term benefits.
-Justin (IslesNet@Gmail.Com)
7 comments:
Can anyone tell me a better goalie tandem right now than what the Islanders have? Two starting goalies for 4 million a year. What a deal by Snow. If anything, this team will be in a lot of close games. Of course we still have some time before camp starts, so who knows. Overall though, anyone who wanted Snow to build from the goal tending out does not have to worry anymore.
Well, the Islanders now have 2 healthy and decent starting goalies. Neither is exceptional nor will they carry the team for long stretches. I still say that a team with a premier goalie has "better" goaltending than the Isles with their two "solid" netminders. You can only play 1 at a time and when Lundqvist or Luongo or Brodeur is "hot" then I would say that all 3 of those teams have better goaltending. I realize you said tandem but like I said only one can play at a time.
Still I believe it was a good move. Biron is certainly an upgrade over Munroe who presumably would have been the back-up had DiPietro not been healthy to start the season (which it appears he won't). I agree with Justin that when and if DiPietro comes back this season, Biron will make for a nice trade chip.
Sorry Glen I was actually going for the "Goalies for you money" aspect of my comment. Yes you can only play one, true, but what Snow did was stabilize the goal tending situation at an affordable rate. There both proven to be effective, and lets face it, they're better than MacDonald and Danis Tandem of last year.
I agree with that Netminder. I like the move for the Isles. I'll like it even more when or if Snow flips Biron at the deadline for a young player or draft pick.
I think it was a great move on the whole. While neither are of super-star quality, I believe they are both excellent goaltenders who can handle a workload at any given time of the season. Will they be enough to turn around the Islanders entirely? No, of course not. But if they help the Islanders win anywhere from 8-10 games more than they did last year, that is 16 to 20 points in the standings. Pretty significant improvement overall.
-Justin
very useful post. I would love to follow you on twitter.
Post a Comment