The San Jose Sharks can't go wrong in picking up the man who bounced them from the playoffs.
OK, so we were a little off in our "what if?" July 15 column when we floated the idea that San Jose Sharks general manger Doug Wilson could further cripple the defending Stanley Cup Champions –and Western Conference uber rival—Chicago Blackhawks by taking a run at goaltender Antti Niemi as a restricted free agent.
Back then we were thinking the Sharks, having pushed the Blackhawks corporate backs hard up against the salary cap wall with a restricted free-agent offer to defenceman Niklas Hjalmrsson that the Hawks felt they had to match, could then reverse direction and make an offer on the very goaltender that ousted them from the playoffs with a memorable performance en route to a four-game sweep.
It didn’t happen quite the way we speculated (to much ridicule I might add), but once the Hawks turned their back on Niemi’s hard-won arbitration award, Wilson obviously gave it more thought.
Though he had signed the decent but under-accomplished Antero Niittymaki, essentially a career backup to replace the higher priced talents of Evgeni Nabokov ($2 million per season for two years vs. Nabokov’s four-year at $6 million per request), Niemi had to be an attractive option.
After all, the heretofore unheralded Finn had downed the Sharks with a virtuoso performance and rode that confidence builder all the way to a Cup triumph despite the fact the Hawks were a great deal younger and considerably less experienced then Wilson’s veteran squad.
Given the reports, first brought to you by Sportsnet’s own Nick Kypreos, that the deal was essentially done and was officially announced Thursday, one can’t help but think Wilson had thought this through pretty much from the moment the Hawks started making noises about balking on Niemi should his arbitration award prove to be excessive.
And though he will no doubt deny it at the press conference to announce the signing, a big part of the reason it happened was not because we thought it was a good idea, but because under the rules of the NHL today, teams can’t just worry about their own cap problems, they have to be very much aware of teams that can use the rules in a predatory fashion.
There’s nothing illegal, immoral or even unfair about what Wilson appears to be doing. In letting Nabokov and a few others go early in the off-season, he created cap space (to the tune of some $4 million even with Niittymaki under contract) and he went for a young defenceman that could help his team in replacing the retiring Rob Blake.
If that didn’t work so be it.
But if it pushed the Hawks to a point where they had to make a choice between not losing Hjalmrsson (a player any NHL scout will tell you was worth holding on to even at an excessive four-years and $14 million) or keeping Niemi, well then that was Chicago’s rock and a hard place. Either way it’s hard to see how Wilson could lose.
Sure he said all the right things, that Niittymaki was his guy and that the issues regarding goalkeeping in San Jose were settled, but come on; this was the goalie who stoned his club. This was the goalie who carried the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup. This was a goalie the Hawks suddenly could no longer afford to keep in part because of the restricted free agent offer on Hjalmrsson. The Hawks were a franchise that had been forced into a difficult situation and this was a chance to push Chicago’s competitive balance farther out of whack simply by having a little more cash in the checking account.
These are a part of the "new rules" and to flip a quote from the legendary Conn Smythe: "If you can’t beat them on the ice, might as well beat them in the board room."
Wilson appears to be doing that.
Timing is everything in sport and with the Blackhawks having to walk on their goaltending so late in the offseason even a high-payroll team like the Sharks could smell the opportunity. The Hawks had committed to the older and considerably less expensive Marty Turco. Stanley Cup runners-up, Philadelphia, had inexplicably made a strong commitment to the losing goalie in the Final, Michael Leighton. Montreal had chosen between Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price and went with a commitment to Price (though he has yet to sign) and St. Louis seemingly solved it’s goaltending question by making a deal for and then signing Halak, who might have actually performed better in the postseason than Neimi, but without nearly as good a cast in front.
Nabokov had gone to Russia as the game of musical NHL chairs tightened. Marty Biron signed early to backup Henrik Lundqvist in New York. Vancouver, as of now, is still assuming it has made a career-long commitment to Roberto Luongo. Detroit, capped out, is resigned to staying with Jimmy Howard. The Islanders are foolishly stuck on Rick DiPietro and his mega-length contract. Ottawa is contractually stuck with Pascal Leclaire and Brian Elliott (how’s that working for you Bryan Murray?). Dallas is committed to youth because of an austerity budget pending the sale of the franchise. Edmonton? Who knew what Nikolai Khabibulin was going to do?
The more places you look, the fewer options Neimi had.
It’s almost as if Wilson planned it that way.
It may only be for $2 million and perhaps only for one season, but given the way Wilson has played his hand, it’s the equivalent of a corporate steal. A damaging blow to the Hawks AND a possible Western Conference power shift to the Sharks.
Wilson still needs a defenceman to replace Blake and he may not find one or be able to afford one that, but San Jose and Chicago were the two best teams in the Western Conference last spring and now Wilson appears on the cusp of getting something the Blackhawks were forced to give up: a goalie with a Stanley Cup ring.
Even in the world of "what if?" that can’t hurt.
