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The San Jose Sharks seem to have developed an interesting off-ice rivalry with the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Earlier this offseason, San Jose gave an offer sheet to restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Blackhawks matched the offer, but the deal put them in a tough situation with the salary cap.As a result, Chicago was forced to dump free agent goalie Antti Niemi when he got too much money in arbitration. The Blackhawks made Niemi an unrestricted free agent by walking away from the deal, and they signed veteran Marty Turco for less money to take his place.
Now, the Sharks have pounced. Reports have emerged that the team is on the verge of signing Niemi to a one-year deal.
The news was first reported by Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos, and later picked up by a few others, including ESPNChicago.
Niemi will reportely get a one-year, $2 million deal from the Sharks. It's $750,000 less than Niemi's arbitration award that Chicago walked away from, and it puts him in position to take over as the Sharks' starting goaltender. That means Antero Niittymaki, signed earlier in the summer, probably becomes the Sharks' backup.
It leaves young goalies Thomas Greiss and Alex Stalock in limbo. Stalock set an AHL rookie record for wins last year with Worcester, going 39-19-2 and leading Worcester to the second round of the AHL playoffs. Greiss was Evgeni Nabokov's backup with the Sharks. He appeared in 16 games, posted a 7-4-2 record, a .912 save percentage, and 2.68 goals against.
Undoubtedly, this is an upgrade for San Jose. They now have a proven winner manning the net, and they also brought in a veteran backup while still not using all of Nabokov's previous cap hit. It's good work by a front office that has enjoyed a successful offseason as they try to build off last year's Western Conference Finals appearance.
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The Sharks also announced Wednesday that team president and CEO Greg Jamison will step down, effective Oct. 1. Jamison served as team president since 1996.
"I have immensely enjoyed running this franchise and wish to thank the ownership group for their support and cooperation," Jamison said in a statement. "Our team, both on and off the ice, is set up for success moving forward, and I look forward to assisting my fellow partners in a more limited role."
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