The nursery on ice known as the Edmonton Oilers just lost their drunken, ailing care taker. 219-year old goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who recently signed a four-year deal worth five million dollars, was arrested on DUI charges after being pulled over in his Ferrari (yes, hockey players can afford Ferraris) earlier last season. Today, he was convicted on those same charges in an Arizona court. Though he will undoubtedly miss out on the upcoming season (his charge usually carries a six month jail sentence), this conviction could still turn out to be incredibly convenient for the Edmonton front office. In the NHL, under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, contracts for players over the age of thirty five count against the salary cap even after retirement. As a result, The Bulin Wall's contract would not be wiped off the books for another three years, regardless of playing status. However, his contract contains what we'll call "a moral clause". A moral clause essentially says that if a player fails to render their services due to one's moral decisions, then the contract is void and taken off of the books. Historically, they're impossible to enforce. Nevertheless, if Khabibulin misses games due to his imprisonment, then he'll undoubtedly be cut from the team (as will his contract and cap hit).
That leaves the dynamic duo of Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Deslauriers to man the pipes for the time being. If Nikky's cap hit is nullified, then there is a possibility that Edmonton could pursue one of the many goaltenders on the market available for dirt cheap. Antii Niemi and Jose Theodore are the first to come to mind, however I'm sure there are many other subpar starters looking for work in the league. Of the two Oilers net-minders, I like Dubnyk to start over Deslauriers easily. Dubnyk has some semblance of talent, and many in Edmonton like his potential upside. Deslauriers, on the other hand, is a scrub. I once watched him play for the Oil, and I'm almost 95% certain that I saw him try to eat a grilled cheese sandwich while playing. An associate of mine says that that statement is blatantly false, yet he testifies that he saw him shopping for furniture out of a catalog while Edmonton was on the power play.
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