San Jose Sharks: Niemi Is No Antti-Dote for the Sharks

The NHL offseason took another stirring turn this week, when Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi was awarded $2.75 million for the upcoming season in restricted free agent arbitration.

The San Jose Sharks had already forced the Blackhawks to commit upwards of $3 million this coming season to keep defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson in Chicago. With the team already in cap trouble, the award was simply too high for the Blackhawks. They subsequently released Niemi, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The truly baffling part was that they turned immediately to free agent goaltender Marty Turco and signed him for a paltry $1.3 million. With the likes of Chris Mason and Antero Niittymaki commanding up to $2 million in 2010-2011, this raises several interesting questions:

Did the Sharks jump too early at Nitty?

Could they have landed Turco for less?

Did Turco take lower pay to join the defending champions?

Ultimately, the answers to all the above are nothing more than speculation and thus of trifle value. The Sharks have Nitty and the Blackhawks have Turco and that is simply reality.

However, another interesting development has occurred as a result of this situation. Ever since his release, fans and analysts alike have been strongly campaigning for the Sharks to scoop up Niemi.

While on the surface it may seem a logical move, there are three reasons the Sharks should not do it: money, current players, and precedent.

Signing Niemi would commit nearly $5 million dollars in goal next season, between just him and Nitty. That would be just marginally less than the $6 million they paid Evgeni Nabokov last season, not the most effective use of that freed capital.

Signing Niemi, along with the seemingly eminent signing of winger Jamal Mayers, would leave the Sharks with limited money to address the team's real need: A top-four defenseman. Despite the fact this defenseman almost certainly must come by way of trade (meaning some salary will be offset by the players they give up) having more leeway to take on more money would be a major negotiating advantage. Signing Niemi would limit the Sharks' options.

Furthermore, Niemi would give the Sharks three goaltenders. This would obviously mean someone would be off the roster by the start of the season. If the Sharks are ever to find out what they have in Thomas Greiss, the time is now. He is 25 and has seen too much NHL action to send him back to the minors. The team seemed very high on him, so I doubt they would release him.

Releasing Niittymaki just weeks after signing him would be equally strange. Doug Wilson sang the praises of Nitty upon signing him and-while he certainly did not know Niemi would be available-releasing him now would be a slap in the face to Nitty and would not show Wilson in a very good light.

Remember also that Niemi was a rookie last year. He played well, but he does not have a proven track record. Were he to falter, it could be a huge snag for San Jose. I liken it to the buzz about the San Francisco 49ers trading for Donovan McNabb this spring. He might have helped the team, but they were fine without him and he would have created a lot of issues. Niemi's worth is more suspect than McNabb's.

Ultimately the Sharks should follow the 49ers' lead, and stand pat.

Finally, this move would be a direct reaction to the loss the Sharks suffered to Chicago months ago. History has shown such reactionary tactics are dangerous.

After a long heritage of being bested by the Detroit Red Wings, the Sharks brought in Todd McLellan, who immediately set about transforming San Jose into Hockeytown West. The ploy worked to an extent, as the Sharks beat the Red Wings at their own game last year and advanced to the conference finals.

That elation was tempered when it quickly became apparent that in focusing on getting past the Red Wings, they had forgotten about another major threat in Chicago and left themselves vulnerable to their style of play. This move would perpetuate that trend.

Niemi was better than Nabby, so the Sharks should sign Niemi? No. That would just leave another deficiency for the another team to exploit.

The Sharks do not need to get faster, stronger, bigger, grittier, tougher, or better in net. They need to make moves which improve the entire team to the greatest extent and put the best possible product on the ice against whomever they may face next season. Niemi would help the team, but not as much as a top defenseman.

The Sharks and their fans need to look at the big picture and stop trying to just douse the most immediate fire.

Keep the Faith!