I’ve been saying for the past few weeks that the Isles needed to sign a more than competent veteran backup goaltender, one that can pick up the slack if Rick DiPietro is unable to play as much as he would like to this season.
Dwayne Roloson can definitely be that guy.
He’s got playoff experience and has proven he can be more than dependable, especially when on a team lacking offense. This plays a huge role when you consider the fact that even with John Tavares on board, the Islanders offense will be questionable and will be struggling to find its identity this season.
While I would have liked the Isles to have taken a shot with Marty Biron, the question remains if he would have came to the Island. To get a guy that has a solid resume and a hefty amount of playoff experience is a plus that could come in handy this season. Signing a two-year contract, I have no doubt that if healthy, D-Ro will be a damn good backup goaltender and far better than the other big name backups the Isles have had over the past 10 years that have failed to fill the bill for this team.
However, the team still has work to do this offseason.
If the Isles can now somehow find a way to sign another goal scorer, someone who can deposit about 25 tallies a year, I may start feeling much better about this team next season.
Posted under Offseason 2009
This post was written by Patrick Hickey, Jr. on July 3, 2009
i think if the Isles took a shot with Biron, he’d wanna definitely gun for the starting spot. with DiPi’s health still being questionable, i think Roloson was a perfect choice. as a Rangers fan, i would have preferred you get Biron…lol but i think Roli is gonna be good for you guys. he’s waaaaaaay better than Danis and McDonald. those guys need to go back to the minors.
as for the goal scorer, i think you should aim for Tanguay or Koivu, even. you guys could have used Chris Higgins…but too bad. =P lol
great…we got a goalie, WE NEED DEFENSE!!! not only that but lets get two mid-career guys that can fill the 1st and 2nd line around tavares
Hopefully Roloson can play a lot of games and be better than MacDonald and Danis (who both played over their heads for long stretches of the season and were better than I expected). I don’t have much faith that DiPietro will come back healthy and stay that way. I think Roloson is our de facto starter.