By Justin Worsley
After being one of last year's postseason heroes for the Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks, it seemed that re-signing goaltender Antti Niemi was a no-brainer. The two sides, however, couldn't come to an agreement as to how much the 26-year-old should earn next season and turned to an arbitrator to set the price.
The Blackhawks came into the arbitration wanting to pay the Finnish-born player $1.5 million, an increase over the $826,875 he made last season as a rookie. Niemi's camp, however, wanted $4 million. The arbitrator ruled on Saturday that Niemi's salary would be set at $2.75 million next year.
Chicago now has three options. They could, of course, sign Niemi and either keep him at that salary or even trade him. The team could also decide not to sign him, making Niemi an unrestricted free agent.
Niemi played in all but one period in the postseason, helping lead Chicago to their first Stanley Cup title since 1961 while also becoming the first Finnish goalie to win the cup as well. Niemi went 16-6 with a 2.63 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
During the regular season, Niemi went 26-7 with seven shutouts and a 2.25 goals against average. Niemi also posted a .912 save percentage during the regular season..
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