Rick DiPietro

The New York Islanders were active on the first day of free agency when they signed Brad Boyes, Matt Carkner, and Eric Boulton, but the team has lost a couple of players that Islanders fans have grown to know over the past NHL seasons. (Clydeorama/Flickr)

While P.A Parenteau signed on with the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg Jets and Al Montoya came to terms on a one year deal worth $601,000. Montoya's departure might have upset some fans that grew accustomed to the goalie as he put up impressive numbers in 21 games during the Isles' 2010-2011 NHL season. However, injury and inconsistency plagued Montoya during the 2011-2012 NHL season as he performed to the tune of a 9-11-5 record, 3.11 GAA, and .893 Save Percentage.

I am going to start off by saying that this is not another Rick DiPietro blog. We all know the story; he will continue to be part of the New York Islanders' plans as long as he is physically able to wear goalie pads and the organization will continue to support him to the very end of this long, exhausting road to recovery. However, there are two goaltending prospects that are going to be competing hard for the back-up position behind Evgeni Nabokov, who is the clear cut starter for the 2013 season.

Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson were sharing time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL for most of the 2012 year with the exception of some short-lived NHL time with the Isles. In 49 games played, Poulin went 26-18-4 with a 2.79 GAA with a .912 save percentage. His partner Nilsson was 15-8-2 in 25 games played and sported a 2.42 GAA with a .921 save percentage. Nilsson, who is a padded giant at 6'5, is still getting adjusted to the professional game and learning how to play on a smaller rink after being more accustomed to the Swedish Elite League. Poulin has now spent close to two full years developing with the Islanders and looks like he might be the most ready to make it to the NHL.

The NHL's current collective bargaining agreement might look a bit different heading into the 2013 season. After the lockout in 2005, the NHL implemented a salary cap after forfeiting an entire season - it appears that both the players and the owners have learned from their past foolish mistakes and won't let that happen again, but there are matter that might not be settled so easily.

One of them is an amnesty clause. Basically, an amnesty clause would allow any team to eliminate a bad player contract under certain conditions. The NBA elected to put this clause into their CBA back in 2005, but it came with a twist. If an organization chose to use the amnesty clause, the player still received a paycheck that counted against the cap, but they did not have to pay a luxury tax on these waived salaries.

Whether or not the NHL and its players will be able to come to terms on something similar, or entirely different, will remain to be seen until the talks are officially underway.

Yesterday the New York Islanders announced that goaltender Evgeni Nabokov will remain an Islander through the 2013 season after signing a one-year contract extension. According to TSN, the contract is worth $2.75 million, a more than reasonable price for his services.