There’s been mention of Doug Wilson willing to listen to offers on Antti Niemi despite the Sharks being in a playoff spot.
My guess is while he has his ear to the ground he’ll be hearing nothing but crickets.
The reason Antti Niemi won’t get dealt at the deadline isn't because the Sharks are in a playoff position. It’s because nobody needs – or wants – Antti Niemi. His value is gone, and it’s been gone all season. Why would a team want to downgrade in goal for the playoffs?
Don’t just take my word for it, though. It’s CHART TIME!
First, let’s look out East because that would be the desirable place to send a player as a Western team.
Current Eastern Playoff Teams
Looks pretty clear to me, everyone is better.
Ben Bishop is pretty close, but still better, and I doubt Tampa is looking to change their goaltending scenery. They’re pretty happy with Bishop, as well as who they have waiting in the wind in Vasilevsky. The only other player close to Niemi is Marc-Andre Fleury and the Penguins have Thomas Greiss sitting with a 93.33 5v5 Sv% - which is significantly better than Niemi – waiting for the straw to break the camel’s back.
Current Eastern Playoff Outsiders
This pretty much speaks for itself.
Antti Niemi is 2/2 at being the worst goaltender on the chart – and we should all be in agreement now that no one in the East is looking to downgrade to an Antti Niemi.
Let’s move West now.
Current Western Playoff Teams
Note Pavelec is better than Niemi? Hutchinson makes that spread even worse for the Sharks.
The Jets are the lowest next to Niemi with Pavelec in goal, but with Hutchinson having a Calder-worthy season (only GP holding him back) they won’t be looking for a goaltender – especially one like Niemi.
So, we’ve written off 17 teams in, or around, the playoffs so far. Let’s head to the Western playoff bubble teams.
Current Western Playoff Outsiders
If this was a contest for most appearances as the worst 5v5 sv% goalie on a chart then Niemi would finally be on top.
Niemi is close to Lehtonen, but close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades.
The moral of this extensive visualization is that there is no market for Niemi. Doug Wilson couldn't even get a Wal-Mart gift card for him if he wanted to right now. When there are 22 teams in, or in the mix, for the playoffs and you hold the title of the team with the worst goaltender you are in no position to deal said goaltender.
Niemi is a UFA, meaning the only team willing to take a chance on him would have to have a hope to make the playoffs. Since he trumps them all in the awful category, he’s going nowhere.
It’s a nice theory – and it’s much more comforting for Niemi, I’m sure – to think that he won’t be traded because of the Sharks being in a playoff position but let’s call a spade a spade here. The Sharks starting goaltender has zero trade value or plausible interest from any general manager who has a shred of sanity.
Sharks vs Flames
The Sharks are 1-1-1 against Calgary this season and will faceoff against their division rivals tonight in essentially a four point game.
The Flames can move ahead of the Sharks in the standings with a win and leave San Jose sweating heading into the second of a back-to-back against Vancouver tomorrow. The loss to the Oilers was costly, even though the Sharks took a point.
The race in the Pacific Division is tight so these next two games will be the difference in a more comfortable position in the standings or staring at the Los Angeles Kings in the rearview mirror. Personally, I’d feel much more comfortable looking at Calgary and Vancouver. The Kings have a habit of well, you know, making the playoffs and winning Stanley Cups.
Hopefully the game’s ice time distribution doesn’t start out like the Oiler game the Sharks can have a chance to dominate early against a lesser quality possession team. It’s essential that San Jose gets off to a hot start and forces Calgary to play catch-up.
As always with the Flames the focus will be on their solid group of defenders and minimizing their impact on the game. I wouldn’t mind seeing Joe Thornton’s line assume the shutdown role in tonight’s tilt. Joe-Joe-Melker is such a dominant possession line that should be able to eliminate the Flames top line while still generating chances of their own.
Puck drop is at 7pm PDT(10pm ET).
Thanks for reading.
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