Would You Trade Antti Niemi?

[Rickety Cricket]

agree






Based on what exactly? How are you coming to this conclusion? Is this another one of those eye-test conclusions?

Aside from his first year as a pro he hasn't played a whole lot of games in a year. Could he be ready? Sure, but he could also run out of gas after 50 games.

 

[FeedingFrenzy]

Aside from his first year as a pro he hasn't played a whole lot of games in a year. Could he be ready? Sure, but he could also run out of gas after 50 games.

Well sure he could but he is a well conditioned athlete. And not the greatest reason either. You could apply that logic to any "new" player.
And that's why you have a solid 1B goalie. Ideally for me Stalock would start 55ish games.
1B should get 25-30. My eye test saw nothing to have me believe Stalock cant play 50-60 games.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'm not against Niemi, but I blame him first and foremost for us losing in the playoffs. He was absolutely dreadful.

 

[19sharks19]

I'm not against Niemi, but I blame him first and foremost for us losing in the playoffs. He was absolutely dreadful.

110% Agreed

 

[Rickety Cricket]

Well sure he could but he is a well conditioned athlete. And not the greatest reason either. You could apply that logic to any "new" player.
And that's why you have a solid 1B goalie. Ideally for me Stalock would start 55ish games.
1B should get 25-30. My eye test saw nothing to have me believe Stalock cant play 50-60 games.

Sure but that's not a full time starting gig, that's more of a platoon which I'm not against.

 

[magic school bus]

Yes, you trade him. Never lock yourself into one goalie, especially with the ridiculous prices they're going for now.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Yes, you trade him. Never lock yourself into one goalie, especially with the ridiculous prices they're going for now.

I would never give Niemi big money, so may as well trade him now while you can get any assets for him. Sign Brodeur and give him 50 starts with Stalock. Guaranteed tank.

 

[Coy]

I would never give Niemi big money, so may as well trade him now while you can get any assets for him. Sign Brodeur and give him 50 starts with Stalock. Guaranteed tank.

I think you mean trade for Pavelec That's a guaranteed tank maneuver.

 

[hockeyball]

Niemi's playoff numbers are extremely poor, for a cup winning goalie especially. He was a good pick up at the time, but we've seen what he can do, and what he can do is be consistently ****** in the playoffs when it matters most. Niemi is boarding on Fluery territory honestly, those guys are likely in the same class.

Keeping him is completely pointless, best case he sucks and we miss the playoffs next year and lose him for nothing. Worst case he doesn't suck, we make the playoffs, he blows it again and we don't even get a good pick in the 2015 draft.

Real best case is we trade him for a 1st in 2015 to someone stupid, then make the playoffs anyway without him, and still get a really high end player in next years draft.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

If the plan is to move Niemi, what are people's thoughts as Montoya and Stalock as a tandem? His numbers in Winnipeg last season look pretty good.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Please trade Niemi. I feel Stalock is better, his athleticism is refreshing after watching Niemi for 4 seasons. He has value so get something before his contract expires then sign a Boucher type veteran back up maybe? I doubt Thomas or Vokoun would so unfortunately that leaves like Khabi unless you trade for one

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Exactly why trading him now won't get the return he might in October or November or even the deadline.

The spectre of rebuilding is one created by 'reading between the lines' of DW's comments and extrapolations by users' comments. Nothing has happened yet except some cutting of the chaff in Havlat and Boyle.

He won't get anything good in return in November or December because teams don't trade very often that early in the season because of the cap. Waiting for the deadline assumes that he's going to bounce back and we don't know the makeup of this team to make an educated guess on that subject.

Rebuilding is a word that has been said by the GM already so it's a question of to what extent he means by it and time will tell but if it involves losing one or both of Thornton and Marleau, chances are Niemi's value isn't going to increase goaltending behind a worse team.

I don't know. Miller, for example, at 33 is looking at signing a large and long contract, which is a scary proposition IMO. And there's no guarantee in signing him, which might result in a bidding war. Seems like more of a headache. You can always sign Nemo to an extension as well like DW did with Burns after acquiring him with a year left.

Yeah but a scarier proposition is bringing in a goalie with less talent that has one year left on his deal that will be asking for a similar deal when he has a lot less of a track record for individual success than someone like Miller does. There's risk either way. Miller is more proven and will be seen by the large majority of the hockey community as a better goalie...and they aren't necessarily wrong either.

Irbes Mask, what did Miller fetch as a return as a trade deadline rental? Is Miller a better goalie than Nemo at this point in their careers? No. I believe it's perfectly reasonable to seek a 2nd in return for one season of Nemo.

There are a lot of people that will believe that Miller is a better goalie than Niemi. He certainly has proven more than Niemi on an individual level. I think it's reasonable to seek a 2nd in return but some may feel that it's only worth it to trade Niemi for a 1st round pick. I'm not necessarily worried about getting value out of Niemi. My point would be that if the team does rebuild, they're better off moving him now as opposed to waiting for the deadline on a worse team since he's not coming off a good year and signs would point to it not getting better if the team is worse and the team opens up spots for the youth.

 

[Juxtaposer]

You can't argue that Niemi would get Miller return just because they're similar quality goaltenders. Miller had a Vezina season to his name, a big Olympics, and is a real NAME goaltender. He's always been overrated and overvalued and for that reason the Blues had to overpay for him. No one has to overpay for Niemi.

 

[Evincar]

Yes, he is an average goalie at best. Stalock and Groesnick should be the goalies next season.

 

[OffSydes]

Miller is overrated where as most people realize Niemi is garbage.

 

[TealManV]

Irbes Mask, I never claimed to be on par with an NHL GM. There's no need to ask. I was simply pointing out the overpayment for a rental goalie to void the point of Nemo having one year remaining on his deal.

PF and Jux, I agree that Miller is a better goalie, has a bigger "name appeal" and should fetch more in both trade and contract than Nemo. I was simply making the point that Nemo could and should fetch at least a 2nd in a trade. Far less than Miller brought back. And I was also alluding to the fact that for the losers in the Miller and Hiller sweepstakes, Nemo would be a good option for a year.

 

[FeedingFrenzy]

Nemo needs to be packaged with a pick/prospect. Winnipeg? Carolina? Buffalo?Washington?
Make it so

 

[Sharkzfan]

Trade Nemo. Like I said before. He needs lots of starts to get his edge on. Go with Stalock and a vet to mentor/backup.

Nemo can win a cup. He's good enough if the D in front of him is high quality. Chicago had/has a high quality D. We, however, do not at this point.

 

[Hold the Pickles]

I say trade him and get the biggest decent goalie we can find for a fair price... via trade or FA--I was hoping Elliot before he signed.

Then ride the hot hand. I like the idea of having 2 different types of goalies. If we need to make a change, we throw in something completely different.

 

[magic school bus]

You can't argue that Niemi would get Miller return just because they're similar quality goaltenders. Miller had a Vezina season to his name, a big Olympics, and is a real NAME goaltender. He's always been overrated and overvalued and for that reason the Blues had to overpay for him. No one has to overpay for Niemi.

I bet Doug Wilson would overpay for Niemi.

 

[DystopianTierney]

Get some '15 picks out of WPG or CGY.

Or trade him to another team looking for changes in net. Maybe take a chance on the last two years of Cam Ward(@ 50%).

Just move him before camp. . .

 

[GreatTealShark]

I like Stalock's ability to move better and faster than Nemo's. I just don't know if Stalock is ready for the #1 spot. Sharks tend to use their number 1 goalie a lot and having Stalock jump right into that role might be hard. I would start the season with Stalock and if he does good keep rolling with him. If not, use Nemo or trade during the season

 

[The Ice Hockey Dude]

Yes i'd deal him. I think Stalock and either a vet or another back up can do as good or better. Problem is i believe their is a surplus of NHL starters and i'm not sure what we'd get for Nemo or who would want him...

 

[The Ice Hockey Dude]

I like Stalock's ability to move better and faster than Nemo's. I just don't know if Stalock is ready for the #1 spot. Sharks tend to use their number 1 goalie a lot and having Stalock jump right into that role might be hard. I would start the season with Stalock and if he does good keep rolling with him. If not, use Nemo or trade during the season

Me to, He's also a much better puck handler and a more traditional style which would result in more consistent play/results.

We we need a goalie that could start if Stalock proves not ready. Nemo is not that goalie as he's a starter that needs to play to be at his best. Having a 1a and 1b situation won't help him play at his best i believe which is why i'd trade him this summer if we can get a decent return then sign a back up / starter for a season. Nemo needs 60-65 starts to be at this best, Stalock needs 40-55 starts to see if he's ready... they only play 82 in the season...

 

[The Ice Hockey Dude]

If the plan is to move Niemi, what are people's thoughts as Montoya and Stalock as a tandem? His numbers in Winnipeg last season look pretty good.

I wold take Montoya as a back up to Stalock, 1 year deal. I think he'd to well with better team D.