You never know. Way I see it, Niemi will sign somewhere that will give him the starting job. IMO, that narrows the list down to the following teams:
Ottawa, Toronto, Philly, Tampa, Colorado, Edmonton, San Jose, Dallas, or the Islanders.
A couple of those teams may not have the cap room to sign him, a couple more already have a bonafide starter in place (which, arguably we do with Roloson).
As for "taking care of the goalie situation at the draft", I say to not count one's chickens before they hatch. If any of our goaltending prospects can develop into a #1 guy that's great, but we shouldn't build our team under that assumption. All we have to give up is money (and for around $3 million a season, it would be a worthwhile investment).
I would be very surprised to see the Isles sign or even chase Niemi. What wouldn't surprise me is for Steve Yzerman to realize that Niemi is an upgrade over the dissapointing Smith/Ellis combo in goal and for Niemi to land in Tampa. Ellis signed for two years and a manageable $1.5 million per so he can be moved to a team in need of a backup while Smith is an UFA after the season, making him expendable too.
I actually think that Niemi would be the perfect fit for the Islanders for a few reasons:
1. He is still very young at 26 and NYI wants to go with young guys.
2. Kostinen and Nilsson are not ready so you need a good stop gap.
3. Roloson is not much of a stop gap since he is really old and could fall apart at any moment. DP may or may not play.
4. Niemi is affordable. He received $2.75 in arbitration. For a young goalie who just won the Cup, that is NOT a lot of money. I'm sure he would consider even $2.5 per year if it is for 2 years.
5. He won the Cup - For a young team like the Islanders that is rebuilding, having veterans in key positions who have won a Cup is huge! Having a goalie who has won it is about as good as it gets! He can give the whole team confidence from that position on to the dmen and forwards.
6. Niemi is a Finn like Kostinen and so he could help him work on his game, etc.
You never know. Way I see it, Niemi will sign somewhere that will give him the starting job. IMO, that narrows the list down to the following teams:
Ottawa, Toronto, Philly, Tampa, Colorado, Edmonton, San Jose, Dallas, or the Islanders.
A couple of those teams may not have the cap room to sign him, a couple more already have a bonafide starter in place (which, arguably we do with Roloson).
As for "taking care of the goalie situation at the draft", I say to not count one's chickens before they hatch. If any of our goaltending prospects can develop into a #1 guy that's great, but we shouldn't build our team under that assumption. All we have to give up is money (and for around $3 million a season, it would be a worthwhile investment).
Ottawa already has Brian Elliot and Pascal Leclaire under contract, Toronto has Giggy and Jonas Gustavsson, Tampa has Mike Smith and Dan Ellis, Colorado has Craig Anderson and Peter Budaj, and Dallas has Kari Lehtonen and Andrew Raycroft.
Only real options I see for Niemi are Philly and the Caps. Philly has been searching for a starter to go with Leighton (made an offer for Turco) and Washington could use a veteran presence. Don't see us being interested. Sounds like the Islanders are fine going with Roloson/Lawson if DP isn't ready to start the season.
Rollie ... done after this year. Perhaps deadline fodder... perhaps earlier depending upon need. Can gain a decent asset for him.
DP... question marks continue
All other goalies remain unproven. Kostinen gets this year to prove himself (he didn't get a chance to do that last year). Poulin can take steps forward. Nilsson... still unproven.
Never can have too many options in goal.
I'd ink him and take the risk that he was a one-hit wonder. Why the hell not? A product of team defense or not, 7 shutouts is quite a few in the western conference.
Rollie ... done after this year. Perhaps deadline fodder... perhaps earlier depending upon need. Can gain a decent asset for him.
DP... question marks continue
All other goalies remain unproven. Kostinen gets this year to prove himself (he didn't get a chance to do that last year). Poulin can take steps forward. Nilsson... still unproven.
Never can have too many options in goal.
I'd ink him and take the risk that he was a one-hit wonder. Why the hell not? A product of team defense or not, 7 shutouts is quite a few in the western conference.
I agree with your assessment...except that I don't believe Niemi is a 1 hit wonder. He didnt just have a great regular season. I think that his game got better and better as the playoffs went on. In the last game of the Finals he dominated, he had a stop on a breakaway and a few other great saves that not a lot of goalies can make. He is younger and more talented than Roloson...and definitely a more reliable option than DP just because Niemi is at least healthy.
I think the islanders need to figure out the situatuion with ricky before they do anythibg. That means giving him at least another year and see how he performs. I also don`t see niemi signing here anyway considering the islanders won't be able to guarantee him a starting job now or down the line.
I agree with your assessment...except that I don't believe Niemi is a 1 hit wonder. He didnt just have a great regular season. I think that his game got better and better as the playoffs went on. In the last game of the Finals he dominated, he had a stop on a breakaway and a few other great saves that not a lot of goalies can make. He is younger and more talented than Roloson...and definitely a more reliable option than DP just because Niemi is at least healthy.
Niemi was NOT great, he had moments but SERIOUSLY, have you ever seen a SCF with worse goaltending?
Aim higher. I'd prefer one of the kids and everyone knows how I love the childrens.
Wait it out until next summer and go big if we must but let's watch Kosk, Nils, Poulin and let's not forgewt Stephan Ridderwall, who if he progresses nicely (as the #1) this year we can consider bringing directly to the NHL, offering a one way contract.
I would offer him the one-year $2.75 - $3 that he was offered by the arbitrator. I certainly think he would be at the very least a lateral move from where were last season which was two capable goalies and a "could have been" 3rd stringer.
I would not be so quick to run out and just go get him for a long term deal. We have 3 solid goaltending prospects, a question mark in DiPietro and what could be reasonable players in Lawson and Roloson. If we add Neimi we need to be careful not to over commit and Snow has been good at that.
Starting the season with Neimi Roloson offers us more stability. Should Neimi work out, there is space for him on a broader deal, and he could share time with one of Koskinen, Poulin, or Nilsson should any of the three develop into NHL goalies.
Just....lets not rush...Id rather add a scoring winger first.
Niemi was NOT great, he had moments but SERIOUSLY, have you ever seen a SCF with worse goaltending?
Aim higher. I'd prefer one of the kids and everyone knows how I love the childrens.
Wait it out until next summer and go big if we must but let's watch Kosk, Nils, Poulin and let's not forgewt Stephan Ridderwall, who if he progresses nicely (as the #1) this year we can consider bringing directly to the NHL, offering a one way contract.
I thought Ridderwall walked w/out an ELC this past June?
As a finn, I probably overrate finnish goalie. But I thought that Niemi looked fairly solid last season and I have certainly seeing him getting better and better each year. And since DiPietro is always injured and Roloson doesn't play much longer, I would go to Niemi if he agrees to make contract in that $2,75 - $3 range. And at the same time let the young goalies have more responsibilty in AHL.
But then again Isles still have bigger needs than new goalie. And I'm not sure if Niemi wants to be back-up goalie which is also possible in Long Island.
I had the fortune (misfortune?) of having a roommate who was a hawks fan this past semester. I watched a lot of Niemi, and I need to say, he is a marginal improvement over Huet. He did better in the playoffs, but the guy is a backup goalie. No interest whatsoever in him.
With him, it's either a shutout or he lets in 7 goals and needs to be pulled.
I had the fortune (misfortune?) of having a roommate who was a hawks fan this past semester. I watched a lot of Niemi, and I need to say, he is a marginal improvement over Huet. He did better in the playoffs, but the guy is a backup goalie. No interest whatsoever in him.
With him, it's either a shutout or he lets in 7 goals and needs to be pulled.
As a Hawks fan I disagree with everything you said
Niemi had his bad moments but they never were that bad and he bounced back from every bad game he had
And Niemi was better then Huet in every facet of game ,, Saying he was a marginal improvement is just laughable
So I guess when assesing the possibility of niemi, you have to ask yourself, do you feel roloson/lawson for a majority of the season is a better tandem than niemi/rolo?
Dipietro has come back & been re-injured too many times to feel safe with him even contributing one game, let alone a full season, even at split duty
Roloson is 41(2?) & isn't getting any younger. No knock on his ability, he's got it, but he's bound to break down & won't play more than 50 games max(just my opinion)
Lawson playing a major role, imo, would be the equivalent to the macdonald/danis level of goaltending we dealt with 2 years ago.
Again this is all my own judgement, but I think most of its valid. If miKko wasd ready, hed be 1b to rolo. Who else is there? Do they rely of waiver fodder in the fairly likely chance dp goes down & rolo is struggling/hurt/needs time off. Or do they throw an unknown in the nets in that instance? Bc people here, myself included, have been talking playoffs...do we all think lawson can play 40+ & get us in?
Keep in mind that Niemi faced 24 shots a game last year with the Hawks. I think that was the Isles' average for the 3rd period last year.
Also, weren't we all saying the Hawks needed to trade for Roloson at the deadline last year because their goaltending stunk?
Of course I remember!
"Stanley Cup contenders don't have inexperienced kid goalies starting in net. The Blackhawks are going to be sorry they didn't trade for Roloson because he's old which automatically makes him good! If you disagree with me, you are just a young wippersnapper who is biased against age! And don't forget that my opinion is superior to yours because I've seen thousands of games cough*ad hominem*cough."
In all seriousness, Niemi would be a nice stopgap pickup, although he's probably looking for a mre longterm role.
Niemi was NOT great, he had moments but SERIOUSLY, have you ever seen a SCF with worse goaltending?
One answer: never. Not even close. And I've watched a lottttttt of Finals. It was somewhat embarassing really.
A residue of the salary cap, IMO.
Richest irony was watching Leighton and, to a lesser extent, Niemi, deliver highly mediocre netminding this June...while meanwhile on HF, some posters blabber on about how "horrrrrrible" goaltending was in the 1980s.
Nevermind that neither of these clowns could hold the jockstraps of Smith and Fuhr.
One answer: never. Not even close. And I've watched a lottttttt of Finals. It was somewhat embarassing really.
A residue of the salary cap, IMO.
Richest irony was watching Leighton and, to a lesser extent, Niemi, deliver highly mediocre netminding this June...while meanwhile on HF, some posters blabber on about how "horrrrrrible" goaltending was in the 1980s.
Nevermind that neither of these clowns could hold the jockstraps of Smith and Fuhr.
Yeah.....and I pose this question when relating those "HORRIBLE" goalies of the past:
Give a foreward a stick with a vertical blade height of 1". Not the standard 2 1/2 to three (on some tips), but half the thickness. Now make the shaft thinner. Now....make the stick heavier. Those puckhandlers would be awful in comparison. Of course, street hockey blades worn down gave wicked action on wristers. (I let mine get down to puck thickness before they broke)
I would love to see the small pads and equipment on our goalie phenoms of today (though a few still wear the old school width/height pads).
When thinking about Niemi and the possibility of him playing on the Isles I feel at this present time he would make a good addition but personally it all depends on how people view his potential. Since he was a rookie last year(even though he was what 26?) does everyone around here feel that he can be much better before he reaches his ceiling? He really didn't play a full regular season but he did put up really good numbers and was solid. For the playoffs I'm willing to cut him a break as a rookie. Almost like the Big Ben affect when he was playing the Seahawks in the super bowl. He was awful too but the next time around he was a completely different player due to the experience.
Personally I'm fine going into the season with Rolie and Lawson with a possible cameo from DP. I feel Lawson is really underrated around here and could surprise a lot of people. If Rolie goes down the Isles would be screwed then unfortunately.
What I would do is offer Niemi a 2 year deal. If he's able to take the job from Rolie then trade him around January/Feb and have a Niemi/Lawson combo. And if he can't then you have a nice tandem to roll with for the stretch run to the playoffs.
(I let mine get down to puck thickness before they broke)
