DiPietro Nearing Retirement?

Is Rick DiPietro Nearing His Retirement From The NHL

I am sure you are well aware of the state of Islanders goaltender, Rick DiPietro and what his injury ridden career has become. The sad regression from a franchise net minder and NHL All-Star to a fringe back-up that struggles to stay healthy for a week, has been a huge cloud over this Islanders organization. Its become so negative that he has developed into a bit of a villain amongst some Isles fans. I do not fall into that group, but I think we can all agree that his career has dwindled down into something terrible. 

At some point he's got to begin to think about hanging up the skates, and according to IncarceratedBob as well as some people I have talked to personally, that time may have come. DiPietro has discussed in deep detail with his close friend and owner, Charles Wang, about what steps to take next in regards to the transition to a post-retirement role in the organization. After getting some early details ironed out with Wang, DiPietro's legal representative (I have also heard him called DP's personal assistant) began talk with the National Hockey League's insurance provider regarding the long process that will be needed to get the remaining $40.5 million that will be lost by forfeiting the last nine years of his fifteen year contract. 

I think its safe to say that by the end of this upcoming off-season Rick DiPietro will retire from professional hockey. It will be very interesting to see if he sits out the rest of this season, or if he pulls a Doug Weight and begins to sit on the bench in a suit while on the IR. Regardless of what happens with DP from now until the end of the season, I think his time has come and he realizes it. This will have several implications on the Islanders some of which will take place immediately. First if DP is out of the picture, the Islanders will have only Al Montoya and Evgeni Nabokov as NHL goaltenders which means you can stop speculating about trades involving Nabokov. Another interesting situation that will result from this will be the loss of $4.5 million in salary which will put the team drastically under the salary floor. The Isles will need to add $4.5 million from an external source to make it up. Next year's Islanders team will look a lot different than this year's one and lets hope thats for the better.