Sharks GM Doug Wilson: 'We Like Our Goaltending Now'

Watching Antti Niemi stymie his team again and again during the Western Conference finals wasn't fun for San Jose general manager Doug Wilson, who still has the image seared in his mind.

Now, though, Wilson doesn't have to worry about Niemi -- the Stanley Cup-winning goaltender is now a member of the Sharks after signing a one-year, $2 million deal on Thursday morning. Niemi, a victim of salary cap limitations in Chicago, is expected to be the primary man in net in San Jose, taking over from longtime goalie Evgeni Nabokov, a free agent who was not re-signed.

"We like our goaltending now," Wilson said on a conference call. "We feel going into camp our goaltending is very strong. If you'd told me in July we'd end up at this point, I'd be very pleased."

Niemi, who joined the conference call from Finland, sounded equally happy with his new situation, saying, "I really think their style of play and how good they are will be perfect for me."

Earlier in the summer, the Sharks had signed Antero Nittymaki, Niemi's fellow Finn, ostensibly to be the No. 1 goaltender. Wilson said he has spoken to Nittymaki and his agent, as well as Nabokov 's backup, Thomas Greiss, who'd been expected to play behind Nittymaki.

Nabokov made $6 million last season. Nittymaki signed a two-year, $4 million deal, so the Sharks are still coming out $2 million ahead in savings between Niemi and Nittymaki compared to what Nabokov was making.

There was noise in Chicago when Niemi's contract negotiations with the Blackhawks went to arbitration that the Blackhawks felt that San Jose had intentionally put them in the position of potentially losing Niemi by signing restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet. Chicago matched the sheet, but it increased the cap crunch for the champs.

On Thursday, Wilson again addressed such claims, reiterating that the Sharks had genuine interest in Hjalmarsson and made him a fair offer that fit within San Jose's salary structure. San Jose also would have had to provide draft-pick compensation to the Blackhawks.

"It should be a compliment," Wilson said. "We like their player. As we like this goaltender."

How will playing time break down between Niemi and Nittymaki? Wilson said only that such decisions will be left to head coach Todd McLellan and his staff, but it's certainly reasonable to expect that Niemi will get the bulk of the time at least initially. Niemi, who had to fight to get the top spot in Chicago last year, said that he expects that playing time will be apportioned by performance.

"No matter where I went, I'd have to play as well as I can for ice time," he said.

Niemi spurned some two-year offers in favor of San Jose because he liked the situation: the team is a good one, perennially among the top in the conference, and, Niemi said, they really wanted him, which made the decision easy.

Wilson said the Sharks have an enormous amount of respect for Greiss and he hinted that Greiss might be dealt if there is a better situation for him that also matches up with the Sharks' best interests.