Antti Niemi and the Blackhawks will meet before an arbitrator Thursday morning in a Toronto hotel conference room, where Niemi will be awarded a contract that the team can choose to accept or reject. The two sides reportedly exchanged their respective briefs and filed them to the arbitrator on Tuesday. Niemi and the Hawks can avoid arbitration by agreeing to a contract prior to the start of the hearing. "Most arbitrations are a disagreement in a player's worth," Niemi's agent, Bill Zito, told ESPNChicago.com. "In this case, it's about managing the cap."