The Dallas Stars were definitely serious about getting Antti Niemi under contract for the 2016 season, plus they added a couple more seasons on top, as they came to terms with the 31-year old Finnish netminder, a 3-year deal, worth $13.5 million.Niemi's negotiation rights were acquired by the Stars from the Sharks at the draft, as a pick went the other way for the privilege and the Stars made the best of what they had, inking the keeper to the new deal.
This deal creates a bit of a goaltending controversy, right off the top, as the Stars already have Kari Lehtonen, who was a workhorse for the team, eating up a lot of minutes, while picking up Niemi, who also plays a lot of minutes, when he's a number one. Now the crease is crowded in a 1A and 1B situation, a fight that will be interesting to watch in camp.
Last season, Niemi was ranked 11th among all keepers, with 31 wins and 75 points for a Sharks team that wasn't terribly impressive, as a whole. Still, if he was to have found a solid number one job somewhere in the league, because we all knew it wasn't going to be in San Jose, he still would have been considered a 1st round pick in this year's hockey pool draft.Now, he is being paired with Lehtonen, at the moment, who ranked better than him in wins and points, picking up 34 wins and 81 points and was 9th among all goalies in pool scoring.
If this pairing does continue into the regular season, both goalies will have their overall projections cut, unless one shines over the other in training camp. It won't be until their use in training camp, before you will have any sort of indication, who the the number one will be or how their time will be split. It isn't like Niemi is an aging veteran, he's still well within the ripe ages for his prime.
Buyer beware in Dallas!
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