CG’s figures here:
http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=11

PS Pisani is a very good PK man, so even if he only plays 4th line minutes and special teams, sounds like a bargain at 500K.

But that is why Bowman got him for $500k.

http://forecaster.canada.com/faceoff/hockey/player.cgi?825

Fernando Pisani looks like he has been granted that ‘veteran utility forward’ spot, per TSN. Scouting report/history here.

http://forecaster.canada.com/faceoff/hockey/player.cgi?2282

But I do remember him putting a big, questionable hit on Sharp last season???

Plus…Youth is great but there was a lot of NHL game experience lost because of the cap dumps.

Beach would probably be fun to watch…but maybe someone like Billy Guerin could be more useful.

What remains to be seen is what injuries occur and when and how the depth holds up. Who can step up from the bottom two lines to contribute on a somewhat frequent basis.

Assuming Huet’s salary is off the books, CapGeek figures the Hawks have about $2mil in cap room.

Room enough to bring up Beach (or another prospect) occasionally and/or sign a budget priced forward (or d-man).

So looking at an overview:

Top 6 Toews/Kane/Hossa/Sharp/Bolland/Brouwer or Kopecky; bottom 6 Bickell/Dowell/Stalberg (who might crack Top 6), Skille/whoever.

Not too shabby.

Top 4 on D intact. Bottom pairing Hendry/Boynton/Scott combos, with either Hendry or Scott being able to move up front.

Pretty good.

Turco/Crawford in net. Seems solid enough to me.

And no other team in the West has made significant improvements. So CHI looks to be in good posture IMO.

What do you think?

This franchise is very thin right now Al.

Remember when Toews broke his finger early in his career and missed about 12 games? Can you imagine what a crisis a similar injury would be early in 2010-11?

It looks to me that legit veteran guys comparable to Brendan Morrison, Willie Mitchell and even Niemi are going to sign low money two way contracts if they want to continue in the NHL at this point.

Zito had his way in the past with the Hawks…and he didn’t didn’t do too bad for Tim Thomas.

If there wasn’t an offer sheet to Hammer maybe Nimei would still be here…maybe… as long Niemi’s price was right.

I was in the minority… most seemed to believe Niemi would get close to $3 mill or more…maybe he believed the same.

As far as interviews go..he probably is better off saying nothing…which he will probably do.

The market is not good for him now…but he could come back next year and still get a fat contract.

Before the arbitration hearing, I was concerned for Niemi when considering the list of available goalies. We were on vacation way up north in Wisconsin and our most reliable link with the world was NHL Home Ice on XM. The main focus of the family conversation, sitting in the parking lot getting ready to play in the chilly rapids of the Peshtigo River, was San Jose’s offer sheet to Hammer. We worried about Antii then.

Antii expressed a desire to play in Chicago. If a dope like me can figure out that the Hawks are dealing with extremely limited cap space, a guy that makes his living negotiating in the best interests of his client should not only understand (1) his client’s wishes, (2) what his client’s options are, (3) the marketplace, and (4) the financial limitations of the teams his client wishes to play for or that may want to bid for his client’s services.

It’s been reported that the Blackhawks low-balled the arbitration proposal and Zito asked for $4 million, a totally unrealistic salary demand given his client’s limited NHL history AND the marketplace. Any award above $2 million was likely to prevent the Blackhawks from re-signing Niemi. Thus, his client was going to look for a new home, a result Niemi did not want (reportedly). An award closer to $4 million was going to depress his marketability, given the glut of goalies with a better track record(*) and the limited number of teams that could afford him.

(*)-albeit not a Stanley Cup, but GM’s know the quality of the defense that surrounded him.

A salary of $1.6 million would have virtually doubled his salary from last year, given him a year to maximize his value going into UFAgency, and allowed him to stay where he was presumably comfortable, with a team he liked, and helped him get more comfortable with this country.

This is why I have said time and again I’d love somebody to attempt to score an interview with Niemi. It would shed more light on the subject.

If Zito was not bullsh—ing in all of his pre-arbitration interviews, he should have been more cognizant of the factors I mention, and more willing to get a deal done. Or he should have had an iron-clad Plan B.

The longer this goes, the worse it looks for Zito. In my humble opinion, anyway.

Maybe a deal will be announced where Antii gets close to the arbitration award, after the dust settles with other FA signings, and then I’ll have to eat crow. Scanning the teams who have the cap space and the need, I just don’t think that’s going to happen.

But like I intimated earlier, I’m just a dopey fan playing armchair GM and armchair agent.

Excellent question. Hindsight is 20/20 and this has not fully played out yet.

If that was the best deal that he thought his client could get then, yes, he should of suggested strongly that Niemi sign.

If he didn’t know then he should have.

I am assuming that Zito has contacts throughout the league and media that could give him a sense of the market and what would be available.

Also, if the Hawks did offer 1.6 for 1 it would be pretty clear that they intended to walk unless the ruling came in heavily slanted in their favor.

Zito really should have known that it was very likely the Hawks would walk and leave him to shop Antti around the league in bad market for Goaltenders

He also should know that the rest of the league considered Niemi to be an aberration possibly. The body of work is just not big enough.

Tough call for the Niemi camp for sure, but the signs were there that this was not going to go well for them.

Who knows? Maybe Huet and Niemi will play in Europe next season

They could also use some experience at the forward position.

Question for you and Nut…

If you were Zito and the best offer that came from the Hawks was $1.6 million let’s say…

Would you have taken that offer?

If so, who do you think it might be ? Could be ?

Thanks. I enjoy your blog a lot .

And I’m with you, Al, on the Hendry signing. Solid third-pair defenseman; can play forward in a pinch. He will be better this year, and still hungry. Not without growing pains, but he’ll be better.