DAILY RUMORS: Lyle Dismisses Several Rumored Destinations for Niemi…But Acknowledges One Possibility

We at HockeyIndependent.com want to be your resource and filter for what is going on in the NHL. We try to disseminate the noise in the blogosphere. We don’t look to to attack those sources, but to question the veracity of the rumor with cold logic, hockey smarts and knowledge. To do that… we have partnered with the one of the best in the NHL blogosphere….Lyle Richardson of SpectorsHockey.net. Daily Rumors with Lyle Richardson will now be a regular feature on HI this summer and beyond…

It didn’t take long following the Chicago Blackhawks decision to walk away from goalie Antti Niemi’s arbitration award for the rumor mill to start buzzing over which NHL team he might sign with now that he’s an unrestricted free agent.

The Bleacher Report’s Todd Cordell was among the first to jump into the fire:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/428523-nhl-buzz-monday-august-2nd

This is only a wild rumor I have heard, but the Maple Leafs may be interested. I know Brian Burke said earlier that he is happy with his goaltending situation.

Now, with Niemi a free agent, he could become a target. I have also heard that the Sharks, Oilers, and Capitals are interested

Thankfully Cordell acknowledges the rumor of Niemi to the Maple Leafs is a “wild” one as well as Burke’s happiness with his current goaltending status. There’s no reason to suspect Burke will deviate from that opinion; besides, he’s got bigger fish to fry, that being perhaps finding a new home for defenseman Tomas Kaberle whilst bringing back a top-six scoring forward and/or a first round draft pick in 2011.

Forget about the Oilers too. They already have a logjam between the pipes with Nikolai Khabibulin, Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, although that could be rectified if Khabibulin ends up doing any jail time in Arizona for DUI. Still, there’s no room for Niemi with the Oilers, who are committed to rebuilding from the ground up, meaning they’ll stick with Dubnyk and Deslauriers if Khabibulin is otherwise detained.

The Washington Capitals insist they’re going with the young goalie tandem of Semyon Varlomov and Michal Neuvirth. Barring a training camp/pre-season change of heart I see no reason why they won’t start the season with those two.

As for the Sharks, that might be the more logical choice.

Eyebrows were raised when Sharks GM Doug Wilson signed Antero Niittymaki over a month ago as the supposed replacement for the departed Evgeni Nabokov as San Jose’s starting goalie. A Niittymaki/Thomas Greiss tandem doesn’t strike most observers as a duo that can get the Sharks to that elusive Stanley Cup.

Niemi’s detractors will say the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in spite of him but there’s no denying he played a significant role in helping Chicago win their first Cup championship in nearly fifty years. Unlike Niittymaki and Greiss, Niemi is playoff-proven and has a Cup ring to prove it.

The question is, does Wilson honestly believe Niittymaki and Greiss will be his tandem, or does he leap for the chance to grab a Cup-winning goalie that’s just become available?

That is what we’ll soon find out.

Lyle Richardson
SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey