Top Goalies Finally Sign

Niemi & Price both sign new contracts

After the Chicago Blackhawks decided to walk away from a $2.75M contract Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Antti Niemi, he became an UFA.  Niemi decided his immediate future yesterday by signing a 1 year, $2M contract with the San Jose Sharks.  This is a little surprising after San Jose brought in Nittymaki on July 1st.  Now they have one of the best goaltender combinations in the NHL after deciding not to bring back Nabokov.  Amazingly, the Sharks payed about $1M less for the combo of Niemi and Nittymaki than what Nabokov would’ve cost them.

Similarly, the Montreal Canadiens decided to trade playoff hero Jaroslav Halak and give Carey Price the key to the organization.  But, contract talks between the two sides went very slow.  They were able to work out a 2 year contract today.  The amount the contract is for hasn’t been released yet though. This was key for the Canadiens even though talks took over two months.  Price is still and can succeed this year with the right players around him.

Other News..

• The NHL has extended the deadline to accept or deny the Devil’s new contract for Kovalchuk until tomorrow at 5:00pm EST.
• Jordan Staal will miss the beginning of training camp as suspected earlier, but will be ready to play in the season opener.
• Darcy Tucker is not being invited to the Maple Leaf’s training camp.
• Bill Guerin has been working out with the Flyers and should be receiving an official invite to training camp soon.
• Steve Yzerman said Paul Ranger will not be with the Lightning to start the season.  He left the team in October last year for unknown personal reasons and is yet to return.

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