Charles Wang - NHL Visionary?

Tom Benjamin at Canucks Corner made the following point about Wang - he may be craxy, but he's craxy like a filthy rich fox;

"I don't think it is fair to bring the Yashin contract into it because that one is a different kettle of fish. That was foolish and I don't think this one is nearly so bad. Garth Snow talked about the flexibility the Islanders got with the 15 year contract and I don't think he was kidding. As long as Wang is prepared to spend more than what he is allowed to spend under this CBA - almost certainly the case - the Islanders are in good shape with this contract:

If DiPietro does turn out to be an elite goalie, the Isles have a great deal.

If DiPietro turns out to be an average goalie who is overpaid at $4.5 million, it is not a millstone for the hockey operation. It is only Wang's money at stake and he apparently is prepared to risk it. If the worst happens, Charles Wang has the most expensive goalie in the AHL. His contract will always clear waivers. The Islanders will always be able to create cap space by demoting him.

That's flexibility.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that is part of the plan and this is a Wang way around the salary cap. If Dipietro is done at 35, he's an AHL backup for the rest of his career. This contract is really for Luongo money over 10 years with a $4.5 MM cap hit.

One of the first questions I asked an insider friend about the cap was whether there was any limit on contract length. I was going to make a post then about using ridiculously long contracts to get around the cap but I decided not to do it. I thought about it again after the Elias deal but again decided that nobody would really see this as a loophole and I'd look foolish for raising it as an issue.

But does anyone think Wang cares about cap space in 2016-17? Does anyone doubt that he knows he can unload a bad contract to the minors if he wants to unload it? I think this is going to work out well for the Islanders because I think DiPietro is pretty good now and going to get better. As long as Wang is willing to write off the money, I don't see a downside."

Bingo. The reason this deal makes sense is not that DiPietro won't get paid the full ticket - he will, it's that if he bombs out he may well not count against the cap because he has cleared waivers and is suiting up in the AHL. As Benjamin points out, it's Wangs money to waste, not necessarily cap space.

So, the Islanders get what they hope is a franchise goaltender for $4.5M, one who is just coming into his own, and the cap hit in the short and long term is manageable.

Now if only they could rid themselves of that Yashin contract, they'd be in pretty good shape.