National Hockey League: Chicago Blackhawks walk away from $2.75M Antti Niemi cap hit
It has become a regular NHL feature: A team spends time and money to build itself into a Stanley Cup contender, finds the right players, makes the right team and in the end, wins the Stanley Cup. A job well done. Except now the team has to be dismantled because everyone on the team just got more expensive.
That is the new reality of the NHL in the salary capped world. It happened to the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins before it happened to the Blackhawks. Those reshuffles simply don’t compare to the mess the Blackhawks find themselves in. Seven players from the team that won the Stanley Cup have been forced to leave because their contracts are now worth far more than what they were. The $59 million salary cap couldn’t fit Chicago’s biggest names.
The latest Salary cap hit that the Blackhawks have avoided was that of Antti Niemi. The rookie goaltender proved to be invaluable last season and came out on top of the NHL. The Blackhawks knew even before they won the Stanley Cup that Niemi was going to see a significant pay raise from the $826,875 he got as a rookie, and they should have known this offseason that Niemi would come out on top through Salary Arbitration.
The Blackhawks have made no efforts to prepare for this eventuality. The fans accepted it simply as the reality of the game that some players would have to be traded but Niemi was not among them. That is a loss that the fans won’t take lightly.
Possibly a reason why the Blackhawks were completely unprepared for the Niemi situation while they knew it was coming could be because of the turn of events surrounding Niklas Hjalmarsson’s signing. The San Jose Sharks signed Niklas to an offer sheet which the Blackhawks decided to match. The cash-strapped Blackhawks were expected to surrender Niklas to the San Jose Sharks because logic dictated that they could not afford the $3.5 million cap hit. But they did anyway and lost a lot of cap room in that decision. Many see the Blackhawks actions over through July and until now as a clear indication that they chose Niklas over Niemi.
A fiercely contested debate is sure to take place among the Blackhawks’ fans between those who support Niklas and those who stand with the goaltender. A goalie by the very nature of his position is more important for the team than the average player but the Blackhawks were no ordinary team. Their defence, of which Niklas was a key feature, led the NHL with the fewest shots on goal. Without a doubt, Niemi saved the Blackhawks more than once in the playoffs but the defence sure made Niemi’s task easier.
Niemi ranked 4th in goals against average in the NHL, but 20th on the save percentage scale. It was the Blackhawks’ defence and Niklas in particular who blocked the shots and made sure Niemi’s goals against average didn’t look bad.
Niemi wasn’t impossible to keep and was not at all expensive. Jaroslav Halak got a $3.75 million salary and his (former) team Montreal Canadiens has not won the Stanley Cup in a long time. In that context Niemi was still a bargain. Chicago could have tried to get Niemi and then make a trade for him. It would have gotten them a draft pick or two. That would have been better than giving away a valuable player for nothing.
The man replacing Niemi is veteran goalie Marty Turco, who the Blackhawks signed for almost nothing compared to Niemi or even his previous contract. Turco was making an amazing $5.7 million with the Dallas Stars. The Blackhawks signed him for less than half of what Niemi would have made. Top that with the fact that Turco has a better save percentage than Niemi and you can’t help wondering why he even signed the contract in the first place.
It’s all done now. The Blackhawks have lost their window to keep Niemi and he is now an unrestricted free agent looking for a team. His agent said that they had been contacted already by a few teams but acknowledged that he didn’t know if he could get Niemi a deal he would want. He should be sure, however, that Niemi would be an asset to whichever team he goes to.
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