Earlier this week, you may have heard that the New York Islanders signed Wade Dubielewicz, a netminder who had been with the team last season but signed with a KHL team in the off-season. You may have also heard that this was because the Islanders' top two goalies, Rick DiPietro and Joey MacDonald, have been lost to injury. You may have also heard that "Dubie" was supposed to be the backup goaltender for the Islanders tonight at the Coliseum when they square off against the New Jersey Devils.Well, it turns out that there's one rule in the CBA that almost all of us haven't heard about.
When a player returns to the NHL from Europe, he has to pass through waivers. Therefore, Dubie is not an Islander today. He has been claimed by Columbus and is now a member of the Blue Jackets.
Here's what happened. The Islanders and Blue Jackets were both in negotiations with Dubie. Given his history with the team and the fact that his wife and children reside in Connecticut, Dubie chose to sign with the Islanders. However, due to the aforementioned rule in the CBA, Columbus was still able to snag him off the waiver wire.
It almost seems like an asinine rule, as the Islanders would have been better off letting Dubie sign with Columbus, then picking him up off waivers. Since they have the worst record in the NHL right now, they would have had the highest waiver priority, meaning that if they claimed Dubie no other team could take him.
On Friday at Barry Melrose Rocks, I ranted about how it seemed teams did not study the CBA and were digging their own graves when it came to the salary cap. Although this is an unfortunate turn of events for the Islanders, you have to wonder how much they know about the CBA because they just got hosed by Columbus. But, to be fair, it is a really, really weird rule.
Anyway, now Dubie is boarding a plane to meet up with the Blue Jackets in Vancouver while an absurd situation is unfolding on Long Island. Third-string netminder Yann Danis was going to get the start tonight and have Dubie as his backup. The plan was to start Dubie next week. Now, it will be very interesting to see if the Islanders can even find a backup goalie to suit up for the 7 PM game. They have two in the front office -- Garth Snow and Mike Dunham -- but Snow is unlikely to play and Dunham has told Chris Botta that he is not an option.
Edit: After further deliberation, it's worth mentioning that it's also possible Snow knew exactly what the rule was, but his hand was forced by the Islanders dire need for a netminder. Columbus and any other teams may have been able to wait it out, while the Islanders could not.
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