Waived: Antti Niemi for purposes of buy-out

[HawkeyTalkMan]

water is wet

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

water is wet

What?

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Maybe you guys could upgrade with Pavelec then

Well I'm not a Stars fan but they also have Lehtonen to back up Bishop who's considerably better than both Pavelec and Niemi?

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Well I'm not a Stars fan but they also have Lehtonen to back up Bishop who's considerably better than both Pavelec and Niemi?

Yeah, Lehtonen should be fine as a backup.

 

[YakDavid]

No. Lehtonen was bad but Niemi was the worst goalie in the league last year

i think gustavsson takes that

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

i think gustavsson takes that

Ew. He should just go back to the minors.

 

[Mestaruus]

I dunno if any goalie could've done very good job with last year's Dallas. It seemed like a mess defensively from the few games that I saw.

 

[pheasant]

Well I'm not a Stars fan but they also have Lehtonen to back up Bishop who's considerably better than both Pavelec and Niemi?

To be honest, I think they should still buy out Lehtonen, too.

The buy out for Niemi will cost 1.5 million on the cap for two years. A buy out for Kari (according to capfriendly) would cost 2.5~ish this year and 1.6~ish next year. So about 4 million, then 3 million, between the two of them.

If you assume you can get a backup for a million, that's still less that Lehtonen's 5.9 million cap hit this coming year.

In other words:
Bishop (4.9) + Lehtonen (5.9) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 12.3 Million
vs
Bishop (4.9) + UFA backup (1) + Lehtonen buy-out (2.5) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 9.9 Million

 

[WhatWhat]

If I was Sakic, I actually would've done this trade, Duchene for Heiskanen and Niemi + a mid-round pick if he can squeeze something like that out. We have the cap space.

Otherwise, I'd wanna do a deal around Honka, a pick, Niemi, and Tyson Barrie.

The guy you are replying to is a happy stars fan. For the past month we have had to endure eery other fan base trying to nab on of our top prospects/picks in exchange for way less than market value because they were "doing us a favour" by taking a goalie....


We consistently said the plan was to buy one out and we and management had zero interest in devaluing a quality asset just to move a goalie. That was usually met with other fans ignoring everything we said and replaying with "lol good luck with 3 goalies"


Now that this is official those can all stop. We have 2 goalies and exactly what Stars fans have been saying will happen for close to a month is done. None of those deals you suggested are remotely close to enticing.

 

[WhatWhat]

To be honest, I think they should still buy out Lehtonen, too.

The buy out for Niemi will cost 1.5 million on the cap for two years. A buy out for Kari (according to capfriendly) would cost 2.5~ish this year and 1.6~ish next year. So about 4 million, then 3 million, between the two of them.

If you assume you can get a backup for a million, that's still less that Lehtonen's 5.9 million cap hit this coming year.

In other words:
Bishop (4.9) + Lehtonen (5.9) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 12.3 Million
vs
Bishop (4.9) + UFA backup (1) + Lehtonen buy-out (2.5) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 9.9 Million

The problem with that is the large amount of dead cap in a year. Lehtonen is fine as a back up and not buying him out makes it so he isn't on the books next year

 

[swissexpert]

Worst goaltender in Sharks franchise history. Can't believe they wasted 5 seasons using him as a starter.

Is it you, Vesa Toskala?

 

[ElGuapo]

Sucks but...is what it is. We all knew this was coming.

Surprised it wan Niemi over Lehtonen but all things being equal, I guess it's better to go with the smaller hit.

Lehtonen instead of Niemi wouldn't make much sense. Lehtonen is a much better player and will be at least a decent backup for a year. They couldn't put Niemi out there again even as a backup.

 

[Chaos]

But how will the Stars trade him and the 3rd overall for Chris Tanev now?

 

[WhatWhat]

But how will the Stars trade him and the 3rd overall for Chris Tanev now?

So happy that the draft is over and we can stop that crazy talk

 

[Fugazy]

I'd like the Rangers to take a look into offering him to be the backup goalie.

 

[Flyerfan47]

Get on that Hextall

I think you have memory issues. It's Hextall, not holmgren !

 

[Rafafouille]

To be honest, I think they should still buy out Lehtonen, too.

The buy out for Niemi will cost 1.5 million on the cap for two years. A buy out for Kari (according to capfriendly) would cost 2.5~ish this year and 1.6~ish next year. So about 4 million, then 3 million, between the two of them.

If you assume you can get a backup for a million, that's still less that Lehtonen's 5.9 million cap hit this coming year.

In other words:
Bishop (4.9) + Lehtonen (5.9) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 12.3 Million
vs
Bishop (4.9) + UFA backup (1) + Lehtonen buy-out (2.5) + Niemi buy-out (1.5) = 9.9 Million

They have 23m of cap space with nobody significant to re-sign. They don't need more cap space this year. Buying out Lehtonen handicaps them next year for no reason.

 

[weastern bias]

.920, .915, .924, .913 and .914 seasons with the Sharks... I guess Sharks have had it pretty good then

His averages always looked alright here, but he never played an average game

I called Niemi the Jekyll & Hyde of goalies, he either played incredibly well or just totally atrociously, as a result his averages made him look average, but he really wasn't, he's either great or terrible but nowhere inbetween

The real problem is that he was awful in the playoffs, a career .905 sv% that absolutely sunk at least 2 Sharks teams postseason aspirations in the early rounds

The only time he performed really well in the playoffs was in the 2010 conference finals, of course against the Sharks, which tricked us into wasting 5 years relying on a guy who just ought not be leaned on so heavily

 

[IamJebus]

Is it you, Vesa Toskala?

This is my manpurse

 

[67 others]

This will likely end his NHL career.

Worst goaltender in Sharks franchise history. Can't believe they wasted 5 seasons using him as a starter.

Yep. 40 playoff games without a single shutout.

Just awful. Shoot high and you win

 

[Cherpak]

I read a suggestion that the Pens should sign him as the BU. I would rather chew on tin foil while shaving my head with a cheese grater.

 

[Alwalys]

worst in sharks history is certainly a bit over the top but he certainly was the worst in the era of the sharks being a contending team (starting in about 2000). His style for whatever reason put up decent numbers in the regular season then completely collapsed in the playoffs. It simply did not deal with the upper tier teams well and tended to let in backbreaking goals.

The Hawks won the Cup with him because he was hot for one series (ironically vs the Sharks) and the east representative in the final also got a terrible goaltending performance.

Basically he absolutely seals off just about anything low in almost any situation, but he is extremely weak high, so if a team can get looks and time to go high, it's over.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

I read a suggestion that the Pens should sign him as the BU. I would rather chew on tin foil while shaving my head with a cheese grater.

Why would the Pens do that when they have Tristan Jarry chomping at the bit to be the backup to Murray.

 

[Cherpak]

Why would the Pens do that when they have Tristan Jarry chomping at the bit to be the backup to Murray.

Typically you back up a young starter with a vet capable of handling the load if injury/performance becomes a problem. Jarry isn't yet ready for that kind of responsibility. He needs to play, not sit on the bench playing sporadically.

JR will bring in a vet then it will be up to Jarry to win the job.

 

[hellstick]

I tend to be pro-Niemi.