| Nick Obergan. 3rd September, 2010 - 2:35 am
 The San Jose Sharks took a giant step forward in their goal of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. After years of early playoff exits and expectations not being met, the Sharks hope they have found the cure for what has ailed them: a clutch playoff goaltender by the name of Antti Niemi.
After the Chicago Blackhawks made him an unrestricted free agent, Niemi was on the open market for awhile as his options were very limited; the only teams rumoured to be interested and had openings were San Jose, Florida, Edmonton, Nashville and perhaps Washington and Montreal.
Though the Sharks signed Antero Niittymaki on July 1st to take over for the departed Evgeni Nabokov, they jumped on the opportunity to upgrade their goaltending significantly. Niittymaki never looked to be a difference maker for them, or a step forward in their quest for a Stanley Cup, but he was had on the cheap while San Jose locked up key offensive players.
But with Niemi literally just sitting there, and with approximately $4M in wiggle room under the cap, it became a no-brainer decision to make an offer to the playoff hero that eliminated them in four quick games. In those four games, Niemi stood on his head against the powerful Sharks offence, and only allowed seven goals, twice stopping over 40 shots.
Nabokov was always a very solid regular season goalie, but seemed to wilt under the bright lights of the postseason, where it seemed San Jose was always a favourite; that?s why they decided to not even make him an offer to stay with the club. After signing Niittymaki, I wasn?t impressed with their plan, but GM Doug Wilson has now put his team in a position to contend for the top seed in the West (again) as well as the Stanley Cup.
Grade for San Jose: A
Niemi was taken to arbitration by Chicago after the rookie backstopped them to a Stanley Cup Championship. The Hawks were very short on cash and could only offer him in the ballpark of $1.75M, but after the arbitrator awarded Niemi $2.75M, they were pretty much forced to walk away after all ready stripping away a large portion of their roster to get under the cap.
After reviewing the other offers he had, Niemi chose the right one. He will earn $2M on a one year contract, and with another strong season and playoffs, he can attempt to cash in next offseason.
He positioned himself well with the right team; there will be pressure to perform, but the team in front of him is experienced, disciplined, and balanced defensively. He has a decent backup who can take 20-25 starts and keep Niemi fresh for a long spring. He will also be playing with a chip on his shoulder, especially when playing Chicago.
While $2M is not the type of contract you expect to see a Cup winning goalie earn, he did OK contract-wise. Considering that most goalies who signed this offseason received less than $2M, and it was late in the summer with very scarce opportunities, Niemi did well to find the right place, and leverage his playoff exploits to receive a decent contract.
Grade for Niemi: A- |
