Confirmed with Link: Penguins sign Antti Niemi (1 year, $700k)

[Cherpak]

Like half this board wanted to go with a Niemi/Emery tandem a few years ago.

Look, I know your a Fleury fanatic. But I'm going to have to see some proof on this bold statement. Half this board? Seriously? I don't ever recall wanting that as a tandem let alone "half this board".

 

[HandshakeLine]

We said last season was a C- offseason too.

 

[Shady Machine]

As a part time Sharks fan, I never liked Niemi. I get that he is a placeholder so Jarry isnt riding pine.

Good luck to us.

Dont really do well in FA, but this year still feels like a C- offseason. Some dudes better be NHL ready in this camp or we are gonna hurt.

I give a B just for not signing any bad contracts. The Pens don't really have a lot of needs that justify being filled in free agency. Let's wait for the 3C before we truly grade the offseason.

 

[molon labe]

Having an NHL goalie at 700k is a win-win - even if that goalie is coming off an absolutely atrocious year. All Niemi needs is 5-10 games with a good record and really good GAA to really boost his trade value around the deadline. Think of any contender who loses a goalie looking for a viable replacement? How many CAN'T fit 700k on a 1 year deal under the cap?

Last year it was going to become nearly impossible to move MAF once the season started because 6M meant taking a terrible contract in return (because virtually no cup contending team had cap space to take him on) and we all knew that.

This is not to compare the two - just saying that the obvious goal here (the management team literally said so) is to find an NHL caliber placeholder for Jarry. Once he gets moved up, moving Niemi should not be an issue and will probably garnish a draft pick better than Condon last year. Even if he ends up sucking, the 700k is something we can surely stomach.

I think this has been an underrated grab by GMJR.

 

[froods]

Win-win here for sure. GMJR says he can play 30-40 games. Either he bounces back and we have a great 1-2 punch, or he stinks it up and it forces Jarry up. They are not going to play him that many games if he is terrible.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Win-win here for sure. GMJR says he can play 30-40 games. Either he bounces back and we have a great 1-2 punch, or he stinks it up and it forces Jarry up. They are not going to play him that many games if he is terrible.

Absolutely.

I am happy JR mentioned 30-40 games. Murray has a history of injury, we do NOT want him to play 60-plus games just yet in his career, especially not if he is going to be needed for 20-plus more in the postseason. So, I absolutely want the backup to play at least 30 this season.

I see it going one of two ways:

- Jarry beats Niemi out in training camp and plays 30-35 games as a rookie, Niemi spends the season trying to find his game in the 'A'.

- Niemi plays half of the expected 30-40 backup games, then gives way to Jarry after the latter gets a little more AHL experience.


I do not see a scenario where Niemi plays the 30-40 games, I just don't think he is good enough anymore (if he even ever was). He has always needed to be sheltered by a great defensive squad to be good. His puck-handling is a disaster and his mental game is not good, either.

At WORST, we acquire a backup at the deadline like we did in '09 (Mathieu Garon).

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Is Kuemper not good? I was surprised we took Niemi over him when I saw what Kuemper signed for. Maybe the hate for Niemi is just overboard.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Is Kuemper not good? I was surprised we took Niemi over him when I saw what Kuemper signed for. Maybe the hate for Niemi is just overboard.

I was shocked (Kuemper's deal).

 

[molon labe]

Is Kuemper not good? I was surprised we took Niemi over him when I saw what Kuemper signed for. Maybe the hate for Niemi is just overboard.

Niemi has played over 10 games against the Pens looking pretty good each time for whatever reason.... while Kuemper has played just one (losing giving up 3 goals and a sub .900 save %)

Management almost always goes with guys they see first hand and keep logs on those sorts of things. I feel that's why often times deals are made for players who torch specific teams while many people from the outside wonder why a bigger picture is not always the defining logic.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Is Kuemper not good? I was surprised we took Niemi over him when I saw what Kuemper signed for. Maybe the hate for Niemi is just overboard.

I said it earlier and I'll say it again...I don't understand why people like Kuemper. He was just Minnesota's version of Zatkoff, but with a better defense in front of him (still lesser stats than Zatkoff had with the Pens, but over a larger sample size). Kuemper looked like he was going to be something early on, but once the book was written on him he's been the definition of mediocre

I'm not saying Niemi is any better than Kuemper, I've also said that Niemi is probably the only Finnish goalie I've never liked so suffice to say I'm not crazy about the signing, but we're talking bargain basement back-ups here.

I'm not really sure why LA went with Kuemper at all, though, considering they already have Zatkoff. I mean, they clearly lost faith in Zatkoff last year, which coupled with a starter coming off a serious injury would make getting a good back-up a priority...instead they got a different flavor of the same mediocre product.

 

[Corvidae]

Is Kuemper not good? I was surprised we took Niemi over him when I saw what Kuemper signed for. Maybe the hate for Niemi is just overboard.

As someone who watch Minni quite a bit... he's terrible. Imagine Matt Murray. Good, right? Now put Matt Murray a good 6 inches out of position on every play and slow him down to 1/2 speed. That's Kuemper.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Kuemper is 27. That is often the age when goaltenders break through in the NHL. Now, Kuemper already did that at an earlier age but it is not going out on a limb to suggest he still has way more NHL upside than Antti frickin' Niemi.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Kuemper is 27. That is often the age when goaltenders break through in the NHL. Now, Kuemper already did that at an earlier age but it is not going out on a limb to suggest he still has way more NHL upside than Antti frickin' Niemi.

So what if Keumper has upside? Our backup goalie this year is merely a placeholder for Jarry, so a cheap 1 year deal for a guy who won't fall on his face seeing NHL pucks was what we needed and what we got

 

[wej20]

So what if Keumper has upside? Our backup goalie this year is merely a placeholder for Jarry, so a cheap 1 year deal for a guy who won't fall on his face seeing NHL pucks was what we needed and what we got

The upside would only benefit us if Murray got injured and if Murray was to get injured then Jarry should be getting that shot over any guy on a 1 year deal.

 

[Shady Machine]

Kuemper is 27. That is often the age when goaltenders break through in the NHL. Now, Kuemper already did that at an earlier age but it is not going out on a limb to suggest he still has way more NHL upside than Antti frickin' Niemi.

Kuemper has never played more than 31 games in a season and is coming off a poor season (3.13GAA, .902SV% in 18 games) on a team where the starter put up significantly superior results (2.25GAA .923SV% in 65 games).

Niemi struggled in Dallas but has consistently played more than 30 games a season and averaged above a .910SV% every year between 2009-2010 and 2014-2015. His counterpart in Dallas also wasn't particularly strong statistically during the same time period.

For the same money and term, I'm taking the guy that's at least been there over the guy that never was.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Kuemper has never played more than 31 games in a season and is coming off a poor season (3.13GAA, .902SV% in 18 games) on a team where the starter put up significantly superior results (2.25GAA .923SV% in 65 games).

Niemi struggled in Dallas but has consistently played more than 30 games a season and averaged above a .910SV% every year between 2009-2010 and 2014-2015. His counterpart in Dallas also wasn't particularly strong statistically during the same time period.

For the same money and term, I'm taking the guy that's at least been there over the guy that never was.

That is fair.

I believe Niemi is done, but we'll see.

 

[Shady Machine]

That is fair.

I believe Niemi is done, but we'll see.

You could be right. The good news is that if he is done, we can just call up Jarry later in the year to back up Murray.