Will Niemi Be Returning to Chicago?
Barring a miraculous re-signing before July 29, the Chicago Blackhawks and their star goaltender Antti Niemi will be entering arbitration. The Blackhawks will be desperate to hold onto Niemi but have a very limited amount of space under the salary cap.
Last season, Niemi was paid a mere $827,000 but was a major part of the Blackhawks’ successful Stanley Cup-winning season. An arbitrator will surely decide in favour of a fairly significant wage increase for the netminder partially responsible for Chicago’s first hockey title in 47 years.
With regards to the situation, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said: “We’re still negotiating with Antti. It’s a back and forth. We’re trying to get it done so we’ll keep at it. It’s a negotiation. Both sides have their points of view so hopefully it works out.”
Sources familiar with the situation present the case differently. According to an insider, the Blackhawks and Niemi have not been in any sort of negotiations as of late and it looks as if it is almost certain that the two parties will be entering arbitration.
After arbitration, the Blackhawks have limited options with how they could manipulate their roster and clear cap space in order to sign Niemi to a higher-paying deal. Chicago currently has the third most expensive roster in the National Hockey League, only behind the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks, and a slew of wasted money.
Some of these cap issues could be alleviated by shipping other goaltender Cristobal Huet to American Hockey League affiliate Rockport IceHogs. Huet was previously the Blackhawks’ number one goalie, but was replaced by Niemi after months of streaky play. The Frenchman played a mere 20 minutes throughout all of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but has a contract worth $5 million for next year.
Chicago has also been shopping around defenseman Brian Campbell. Unfortunately, not too many teams seem keen on picking up his contract of around $7.1 million per year. Campbell had 38 points in 68 regular season games in 2009-10 and was the line assist on Patrick Kane’s Stanley Cup-winning goal. Patrick Sharp was rumoured to be a trade possibility as well, but Chicago’s GM has adamantly denied such a possibility.
If Chicago does want to keep Niemi a Blackhawk, they must act before arbitration. Niemi’s strong performance last season will probably mean that he will be awarded a Jaroslav Halak-like wage of $3-$4 million per year. The Blackhawks could sign him for a about $2.5 million if they act before arbitration.
The Blackhawks could also attempt to trade Niemi and then sign an available veteran goalkeeper like Marty Turco. However, their best bet is to just retain Niemi. Though he is young and fairly unproven, Niemi is slated to only develop further. If he was capable of being between the pipes for a Stanley Cup-winning team already, it seems like as if he should be able to do so later on as well.
The Blackhawks’ goaltender coaching has clearly been useful to Niemi and by developing from within Chicago will actually cut costs in the long run. Niemi’s contract wouldn’t be a problem if the Blackhawks hadn’t won the Cup, but it is a necessity to reward players for victory.
The Blackhawks have retained a sizable portion of the core of their 2009-10 team. With Sharp, Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith still around, why fix what isn’t broken? The Blackhawks have always been described as a smart organization and have the opportunity to prove that by re-signing Niemi before arbitration makes him too expensive.
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