The First Annual DiPietro Award

Feb 11, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro (39) looks back on his missed save during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Carolina won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Back in June the NHL held its annual award ceremony out in Las Vegas.  While everyone knows of the awards presented: Hart, Norris, and Vezina among others, there was another award that didn’t get as much publicity that night.  However, I am here to correct that and present you with the nominees for the first ever “DiPietro Award.”  It is given to the player who has a contract so long and so awful, there’s between zero and no chance that it will run its course before being bought out by the team.

In case you forgot, Rick DiPietro was the first overall pick back in 2000 with the New York Islanders.  The brash kid from Boston had yet to establish himself as a star in the league before the Islanders signed him to a 15-year contract in 2006.  The contract was set to expire after he turned 40 years old.  It didn’t take a Mensa member to figure out that a 15-year deal for a goalie wasn’t the wisest decision and only a few years later DiPietro began suffering injuries which ultimately led to the Islanders buying out the remainder of his contract after the 2012/13 season. Don’t feel too bad for Rickey though…he’ll be pulling in $1,500,000 a year through the 2028/29 season as a result of the buyout.  Not a bad severance package.

Despite the DiPietro contract, teams just can’t help themselves and continue to hand out head-scratching contracts every summer.  And while there are truly some horrific contracts in the league, not everyone’s contract is awful enough to make be nominated for the DiPietro Award.  On that front we want to give an honorable mention to those players who just missed the cut for nominees: Josh Bailey (four years remaining, $3,500,000 cap hit), Deryk Engelland (three years remaining, $2,916,667 cap hit), Tyler Myers (five years remaining, $5,500,000 cap hit), Corey Crawford (six years remaining, $6,000,000 cap hit), Nathan Horton (six years remaining, $5,300,000 cap hit), and Mike Richards (six years remaining, $5,750,000 cap hit).  Sorry fellas. You just missed the cut for this year’s award.  Don’t fret though: with your terrible contract causing havoc on your team’s cap situation, there’s a great chance you’ll be nominated next year.  Just keep on doing what you’re doing.

Now, I am proud to announce to you the nominees for the first ever DiPietro Award:

Apr 3, 2014; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Anthony Peluso (14) checks Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) during the second period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

Brooks Orpik

Our first nominee is a strong candidate for the DiPietro Award.  The veteran defenseman will turn 34 before the season starts and just signed a five-year contract that will carry a cap hit of $5,500,000 over the duration of it with the Washington Capitals.  The Capitals have a reputation of being soft and unable to win playoff hockey so of course they sought to rectify this situation by throwing a truck load of cash at the ex-Penguin.

Orpik does bring veteran presence and plenty of playoff experience to our nation’s capital. Unfortunately he also brings cement in his skates and little offense to the blue line.  He’s still a fierce hitter (even if he won’t drop the gloves), but does not have the legs to keep up with a younger and faster skating league.  He’s being paid as a top-two defensemen which he is currently based solely on reputation.  The five-year contract he signed was about two years too long and there is little chance he will see the end of his deal with the Capitals as you can pick up a nice traffic cone for under 20 bucks on the internet these days, a little less than$5,500,000 Orpik will pocket a year.  For $5,500,000, that better be one good-looking traffic cone.

While he may bring the “winning” attitude the Capitals want, unfortunately for Brooks he won’t be skating home this year with the DiPietro Award.  Something tells me this won’t be his final nomination though.

Mar 27, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan (24) battles for the puck with New York Islanders center Frans Nielsen (51) during the first period at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Callahan

Our next nominee is a current Tampa Bay Lightning winger and one-time New York Ranger captain who re-signed with Tampa this summer for six years at a $5,800,000 average cap hit.  “Cally” is known for bringing “grit,” “leadership,” “jam” and all those other wonderful intangibles they say you can’t put a price on (except in this case of course). A product of the New York and American media, Callahan’s reputation and recent play have far surpassed his actual usefulness as a player.  As I already spoke about when he first re-signed with Tampa Bay, Callahan receives far more credit for what he brings to a team, even if he doesn’t actually bring them anymore.

MYTH: he’s a playoff performer and any team would be lucky to have him in a playoff series; FACT: he’s produced 24 points in 63 career playoff games.  His most recent playoff showing was a goose egg on the stat sheet as Tampa was swept in round one.

MYTH: he is a great checker and takes the body effectively; FACT: while he does throw his body around, he has done it less and less over recent years, not surprising for a 29-year old who is under 200 pounds.  There’s only so much a small player’s body can take and nagging injuries have cost Callahan significant portions of games in four of his eight seasons.

MYTH: he’s a great leader and you can’t have enough of that; FACT: his Ranger clubs only advanced past round two of the playoffs once in his tenure and the Rangers had no problems shipping him off at the deadline and finishing with its best season in 20 years.  And of course Callahan’s new team was swept in the playoffs.  So much for the awesome leadership.

Callahan is a nice third-line player being paid like a legitimate top-six (or even top-three) forward and will be expected to produce.  Of course in his best season back in 2011/12 he put up 29 goals and 54 points. Solid, but hardly great.  And while we’re about to enter year one of a six year deal, something tells me we’ve already seen the best of Callahan, hence, he won’t be seeing the end of that deal.  A nominee for the DiPietro Award, it’ll just become another thing Callahan doesn’t win (but don’t tell the American media!)

Jan 7, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf (3) battles for the puck with New York Islanders left wing Thomas Vanek (26) at Air Canada Centre. The Islanders won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Dion Phaneuf

Speaking of worse contracts, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs is our next nominee for the DiPietro Award.  Phaneuf’s extension kicks in this season and will carry a $7,000,000 cap hit for the next seven years.  You know it’s a brutal contract when there are serious rumblings of being moved within four months of signing the extension.

Once upon a time Dion Phaneuf was a legitimate top-pairing defenseman, capable of playing strong defense and chipping in 40 points.  Of course that wasn’t the case last season where Phaneuf struggled on the score sheet (tallying only 31 points) and in the advanced statistics department (don’t look at his Corsi or Fenwick, stat-heads) and couldn’t help his team avoid a collapse over the last 20 games of the season after the Leafs appeared to be a lock for postseason play.  Of course this was coming on the heels of its epic game 7 playoff collapse against Boston the previous season…not exactly a great 12-month run for Phaneuf and the Leafs.

While it seems like Phaneuf has been around forever, he’s still only 29 so there might be some hope for Phaneuf in the immediate future with the team.  But with seven years to go on his contract, and his play already showing signs of decline, it will be a matter of “when” and not “if” Phaneuf will be bought out of his contract.

However, despite his strong candidacy, the judges just couldn’t name him as winner of the DiPietro Award.  So without further delay, your first annual DiPietro Award winner is:

Apr 12, 2014; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators Pdefenseman Marc Methot (3) avoids a check from Toronto Maple Leafs right wing David Clarkson (71) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

David Clarkson

Ladies and gentlemen, your DiPietro Award winner!  It takes a special kind of player to be the recipient of this prestigious award, so let’s recap David’s “accomplishments:”

• Is signed for six more years at a $5,250,000 cap hit which would take him through age 36 if he isn’t bought out (HAHA, or as the kids say, “LOLZ”)
• In year one of his current contract, scored five goals and recorded six assists in 60 games.  No need to break out the calculator for that total…it’s 11 points.  Or $477,273 a point.
• Scored 30 goals once in a season.  His next highest total was 17.  Apparently the word “outlier” was foreign to Toronto management.
• In 44 playoff games has a total of 14 points.  To be fair, this probably won’t be much of an issue in Toronto.
• Has a higher cap hit than James Neal, Mike Cammalleri, Valeri Filppula and Bobby Ryan, among others.  Has the same cap hit as David Krejci,  Yeah, I don’t get it either.

With new management in town, there’s a legitimate chance that Clarkson may be bought out next summer if his play doesn’t drastically improve (which would pay him through the 2024/25 season if bought out).  Even with that he won’t survive the axe hanging over his head the next six years.  His contract was mind-boggling when he signed it last summer and looks even more reprehensible now.  There’s no doubt that this contract was the most egregious handed out by Toronto recently and a main reason why Brendan Shanahan is running the show now.

But for us on the award’s committee, none of that is relevant.  For all the reasons above, David Clarkson is a worthy winner of the first annual DiPietro Award.  So come get your award and take a bow David.  And try not to trip on the way up.