Kukla's Korner Hockey
The Value Of Antti Niemi
by Paul on 07/06/10 at 02:13 PM ET
Comments (8)
from Mike Kiley of Blackhawks Confidential,
The fact that Niemi is among 31 NHLers filing for salary arbitration does prompt the question of how differently his agent, Bill Zito, and the Hawks view the gap between Niemi, a Stanley Cup-winning hero, and Niemi, that guy who has yet to be asked to play a full season in the NHL.
In a perfect world without salary comparisons and so on to drive figures, Niemi deserves somewhere around 3 million a year. How about 4 years, $12 million?
Sounds about right without crunching all the numbers and such that Zito is paid handsomely to do on behalf of his client.
How about 4 years, $16-$20 million, which could be closer to where Zito wants a deal done. He may be asking for 6 to 8 years for all I know. Sounds excessive.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: antti+niemi
Comments
That new Halak contract’s about to be a mighty likely comparable…
Posted by mobsky on 07/06/10 at 03:29 PM ET
Ha, Lady Luck just landed in Niemi’s lap. Him and his agent are looking like genius’ right now. I say no less than 3.
Posted by Keyser S. on 07/06/10 at 03:36 PM ET
If Halak can get 3.75/yr then Niemi should have no problem commanding 4/yr – sorry Hawks fans ...
Posted by some kid on 07/06/10 at 04:04 PM ET
I personally don’t think Niemi is worth as much as Halak, but I’m not a salary arbiter.
Halak carried an overmatched Montreal team into the third round of the playoffs while Niemi got dragged through the Stanley Cup finals by a Hawks team too talented to lose to the Flyers. He’ll get more than I think he’s worth.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 07/06/10 at 04:13 PM ET
My initial Niemi salary guess was around $3.75M a year, which I believe is something of a maximum given his abilities. The Halak contract does imply something in that ballpark, even if Halak is younger with twice as many NHL games and slightly better numbers. But a Stanley Cup is bound to mean something.
The question is, would you - as interim Blackhawks GM - take a look at Nabokov and Turco if Niemi is awarded $4+M?
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 07/06/10 at 04:28 PM ET
The question is, would you - as interim Blackhawks GM - take a look at Nabokov and Turco if Niemi is awarded $4+M?
Only if Nabokov or Turco would be willing to play for less than $2M.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 07/06/10 at 04:30 PM ET
i wonder if his agent wants to get him the paycheck comparable to Huet’s
Posted by Oilers Rock from Edmonton, Alberta on 07/06/10 at 09:13 PM ET
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As a hawks fan a guy who watched Nemi play his year down here in the “A”. Good decent goalie but….3-4 mil nah i say 2.5 over 3 years. Anything more than that. If it actually makes it to arbitration a 1 year 3.5+ I would strongly consider walking away.
Posted by rdgamblr from Northern Illinois on 07/06/10 at 03:11 PM ET