From TSN's Bob McKenzie

 

 

 

 

I'd be happy to sign him to that contract, I think he's worth $3.5 mil, especially with how well him & Campbell play together. Suck it San Jose.

Should be a no brainer...especially with Ladd off the books

I would imagine the contract to Nik is front loaded, but San Jose probably doesn't have a ton of cap room, either. Have to match.

If they match that San Jose offer, they might not have the money to sign Niemi.

Bye-Bye Niemi.

 

Yep, I was coming in here to say the same thing, but you beat me to it. I'd be really surprised if Hammer's offer isn't matched and Niemi gone in the very near future. Do they even have the money to keep Huet on the team next year if Niemi is gone and Hammer kept at that rate?

Edited July 9, 201015 yr by whitesoxfan101

Interesting tweets from Jesse Rogers today: (proofread)

 

At prospects camp. Can't answer all questions. They have to choose. Will lose one more name guy in my opinion. Antti or hammer

 

Course that's only if u lock niemi up. If u think u go to arb then match hammer and pray arb award is real low or walk away

 

Or trade sharp who could be gone in 2 yes. And keep hammer and niemi long term. At least 4. No good answer. Thks Dale. Lol

I'd just be shocked if Niemi isn't the odd man out. A large part of what makes the Detroit model pretty unique is the fact that it seems to find goalies to be largely replaceable. It would be in line with that to not overpay Niemi for a really good playoff run when already in cap jail.

As I said before anyone wanted to hear it, even with all the guys being shipped off, it was still probably going to come down to one or the other in terms of Niemi or Nik.

 

This team was, and still is royally cap f***ed.

 

The $4 million in bonuses is really screwing them over.

You got Schenider (VAN) and Bernier (LAK) available if Stan wanted to explore a younger goalie.. (maybe a spect for spect kind of deal) there was a highly respect poster of HF/blackhawks boards that said Hannu Toivonen has higher potential than Niemi does too. (if he gets his head on straight)

 

No doubt though you match that offer for Hammer.

If re-signing Nik costs you the chance to re-sign Niemi, I'd take the 1st and 3rd and move on and try to sign another defender.

 

But hopefully we can find a way to keep both going forward.

If re-signing Nik costs you the chance to re-sign Niemi, I'd take the 1st and 3rd and move on and try to sign another defender.

 

But hopefully we can find a way to keep both going forward.

I am with you. Defense is our deepest position of minor league talent. We have 0 goalies.

The $4 million in bonuses is really screwing them over.

 

Beats not winning the Stanley Cup. Some past mistakes with money distribution, qualfing offer issues, etc are also hurting right now.

 

I also think you have to keep Hammer as an insurance policy. Not only is already good and still getting better, but with the cap issues as they are, I don't think you can let Hammer go because it's not a 100 percent lock you keep Seabrook (although they'll do everything they can to keep him). Plus, you're defense is really thin for this season without him.

Edited July 9, 201015 yr by whitesoxfan101

The "less experienced" Hawk fans will flip out if the Hawks let Niemi leave.

First Buff, then Versteeg (to a lesser extent), then Niemi?

"OMG, all the Hawks have left is Toews and Kane!!!"

Hmmm.. I wonder if they would trade Reasoner and Kopecky to help off-set the money Nik will make that the Hawks would probably match. (elder Bowman I remember raved about Nik) Tough decision in either case. Is next year's draft strong at all or is it weak? SJ is probably going to be a top 5-7 team in the West anyway even without Nabakov.

If re-signing Nik costs you the chance to re-sign Niemi, I'd take the 1st and 3rd and move on and try to sign another defender.

 

But hopefully we can find a way to keep both going forward.

 

I disagree, I think re-signing Hjalmarsson is more important than Niemi. He's shown that he can be a great #3 defenseman, $3.5 is not a bad number, and he is only 23. I'd rather sign him and take the chances that Niemi changes his mind and take a more reasonable longer contract. If not, just hope that the arbitration number isn't too high and you don't have to lose him. Worst comes to worst, go with Crawford or Toivonen and sign a cheap old vet like Turco to mentor them or maybe he can catch one last good year.

Niemi had the 19th best save pct in the league. I understand he played great for times in the postseason, but the Hawks blocked a ton of shots and played some great defense in front of him. Hjalmarsson is more valuable IMO.

Resign Hammer... with a strong defense you can have a lesser goalie.. IE Niemi. He isn't a great goalie but he is decent enough. The defense helped him big time.

Turco and Theodore are both out there, will probably get less money than Niemi is asking for and have a bigger body of work. Personally, I match Hammer, go to Niemi and sign for one year as inexpensively as I can, or go to arb with him. If he declines or the arb is too high, move on to Turco.

Niemi's arbitration date set for July 29

When is the last day when we can match that offer to Hjalmarsson? With all these changes, our on ice defense will suffer the most. We do not know how these young guys are going to be defensively.

 

In a perfect world, we could have gotten rid off Huet and Soup's contract and not lose almost half of the Stanley cup champions.

 

 

 

 

When is the last day when we can match that offer to Hjalmarsson? With all these changes, our on ice defense will suffer the most. We do not know how these young guys are going to be defensively.

 

In a perfect world, we could have gotten rid off Huet and Soup's contract and not lose almost half of the Stanley cup champions.

Friday.

 

Dam San Jose for this s***...it was a good move on their part. I think the Hawks have to sign him...I wasn't prepared to give him this much cause I thought they could get him cheaper, but their hand was forced and I think he is one of the key cogs. I say sign Hammer, wait for arb numbers on Niemi. If it's reasonable...sign him. If it's close...maybe look at getting a cheaper center for the 4th line than Reasoner. If it's too high...then bye bye Antti. Come on up Corey.

 

The bigger question if this situation plays out and Crawford comes up...how the hell do you send Huet down?? I just don't see it...which means his Bens are on the books.

Edited July 12, 201015 yr by Controlled Chaos

Hawks matched. 4 is coming back.

sweet!

Hawks matched. 4 is coming back.

 

Awesome! Some more rumors popping up about the Hawks needing to make more moves:

 

Real_ESPNLeBrun

With Hawks deciding to match Hjalmarsson offer, source said today Brian Campbell being shopped. Have hard time seeing that contract moved.

My ESPNChicago colleague Jesse Rogers believes Patrick Sharp could be in play as well now and he's much more easily moveable... We'll see

Hawks can shop Campbell all they want, I just don't think his contract is move-able even though he's a good player.

Bhawks better not be shopping Sharp, he is more important to this team than Niemi and it isnt even close imo.

They're not moving Sharp, I absolutely do not buy that. I believe the Niemi era ended today though.

Bhawks better not be shopping Sharp, he is more important to this team than Niemi and it isnt even close imo.

This.

 

The Soupy thing is crap....they were always trying to move that contract and they will remain unsuccessful. Nothing new there.

 

Glad we have #4 though!! If he keeps progressing, those last couple years will be a bargain.

Edited July 12, 201015 yr by Controlled Chaos