New York Islanders Sign Martin Biron: What Gives?

Islanders GM Garth Snow is playing poker again and he is not showing his hand again.

The Islanders have signed former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Martin Biron.

On the surface, there are no negatives about the signing, what lies underneath is another story.

Lets look at the surface and then we will delve into what lies beneath.

First of all, if Biron is on the Islanders, he is obviously not on the Flyers. Everything I have read about Biron is that he is excellent in the locker room and a real team player that other players want to be around.

Why the Flyers did not try to work something out with Biron is beyond me.

They signed goaltender Ray Emery, who could not even get a job in the NHL last season, and brought in goaltender Brian Boucher while Biron was left to twist in the wind.

There is no way Biron would have signed with the Flyers for the same offer and now he has made himself very attractive to a possible trade if Rick DiPietro manages to come back to the Islanders healthy.

Fans of the Orange Crud don't agree and they're angry and I can't blame them.

They didn't replace Biron with Patrick Roy; they replaced him with Ray Emery, which is a roll of the dice on its best day. Remember this is the same Ray Emery that could not get a job in the NHL this past season.

Islander fans were concerned about the age of Dwayne Roloson. Well, those concerns have been silenced by this signing.

Now lets get to what lies beneath.

There are only a few reasons for this deal to be made and any one of them could be true.

1. Despite what everyone is saying, Rick DiPietro's health is obviously in question and his multiple knee and hip surgeries as well as his multiple concussions have taken their toll on him. If he cannot come back strong and healthy from this latest of three knee surgeries, which will make 5 total surgeries in the last 2 years DiPietro will call it a career and retire.

He also just got married and as all married guys know, I am sure his new bride does not want to see him risk further serious injury if his body cannot handle the rigors of the NHL.

DiPietro would not be the first big NHL star to have to retire well before his time because of multiple serious injuries.

2. Garth Snow wants to show DiPietro who is running the show. Make no mistake, Garth Snow and company were not happy with him last season when he insisted he was healthy and sat on the bench at the start of the season.

It made them look bad like they could not, or would not, stand up to their biggest star and tell him to shut up and sit down.

Well, he came back way too early and injured himself, ending up on the operating table two more times because of it.

Rick is under contract for another 12 seasons for $54 million.

No matter what you say, that contract alone could make him feel like he runs the place.

He can't be traded.

He can't be bought out.

The Islanders have another four years left to pay off their last long term buy out, Alexei Yashin.

What the Islanders can do is remind him who is boss by flexing their muscles and showing DiPietro who runs the show.

He can be put on waivers. He can be sent to the minors. They can make it a very long 12 years for DiPietro and now he knows it.

3. Snow and company think DiPietro isn't coming back or if he does that it will only be for a year or two.

This is all speculation, but what if doctors have already told Rick that he cannot count on his knees and/or hips holding out long term? What if they told him he only has a couple of years at best with all of the surgeries he has had?

Islander fans love the way DP plays with fire and passion. He made a commitment to the Islanders long term which not a lot of other athletes are willing to do. He loves it on Long Island and wants to be a part of a winner. He throws his legs and arms and body around with reckless abandon in positions that quite frankly would put any one of us in the hospital.

What if all of this has taken its toll on DiPietro and severely shortened his career?

Why else do you sign two NHL veterans and draft 2 more goaltenders?

4. It makes the rest of the available free agents (hello, Alex Tanguay) realize the Islanders are serious about building a winner.

If you are a free agent looking at the team, you see perhaps the next great phenom in John Tavares, you see very solid goaltending, you see an organization that seems to be sticking to its on ice agenda and you also see a plan in place for a sparkling new arena.

Maybe that pushes you towards the Islanders and away from Florida and Phoenix.

The next weeks should be very interesting but as the Islanders like to do everything is cloaked in mystery. All we are left to do is speculate on what lies beneath.