[quote name="MassHavoc"]This is a honest question here, how much does the hawks walking away from a seemingly manageable but very tight 2.75 number, a number that was given to him by an arbitrator, hurt Niemi in negotiating with other teams? I don't think he can go out there and get a deal that is going to pay him 2.75 when it's already be determined that's the max he's worth next year. I feel very bad for him, not only is he going to get shipped to (most likely) a shitty team, but he'll be doing it for at the most very close to that 2.75 mil don't you think? When you think about it, he was in a no win situation by going into arbitration. So does he get signed for more than that?[/quote]
It's a good question. My guess, though, is that Niemi is more concerned about a multi-year deal than about the strict number. If he could get $2.75MM for 4 years, he might be okay with that.
I agree with you completely, though, that going to arbitration was a worse idea for Niemi than it was for the Hawks. I've heard for a while now that the Hawks have had some kind of understanding with Turco so they've pretty much always had a back-up plan. I have no idea what Niemi's back-up plan will be. I think there's a not-so-terrible chance that he'll go to Europe. I just don't know.
