Music: {allcanada} Could Antti Niemi be heading to Oilers to replace Khabibulin?

Friday, August 27, 2010

{allcanada} Could Antti Niemi be heading to Oilers to replace Khabibulin?

With Friday's conviction of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (notes) on alcohol-ralated driving charges in Arizona, the Edmonton Oilers have a problem. They expect to see their nominal No. 1 goalie miss at least part of training camp, depending on whether he gets jail time.

They also could have the opportunity to rid themselves of his burdensome contract, if the conviction allows it under terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Which raises the specter of the Oilers needing a new No. 1 goalie. They have three netminders under contract now, none of whom are elite.

But Antti Niemi (notes), who backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in June, is on the market as an unrestricted free agent. Care to play connect the dots?

Khabibulin is a season into a four-year, $15 million contract and is 37 years old. The Oilers got 18 games out of that deal before Khabibulin came up with a bad back that led to surgery. He was expected to be ready for training camp after rehab, but that was not a certainty.

Niemi was awarded a one-year, $2.75 million contract in arbitration last month, but the cap-strapped Blackhawks walked away from the deal—a stunning move because Niemi, who turns 27 on Aug. 29, is entering his peak years with a Cup fresh on his resume.

The Blackhawks then signed Dallas Stars castoff Marty Turco (notes) and let backup Cristobal Huet (notes) head for Switzerland to lose his contract.

If the Oilers can wiggle out from under Khabibulin's deal, they could sign Niemi for less than they wasting on Khabibulin and get a much stronger goalie than either Jeff Deslauriers (notes) or Devan Dubnyk (notes), who are about the same age, or journeyman Martin Gerber (notes), who signed this summer.

The irony? The Oilers signed Khabibulin after the Blackhawks let him become an unrestricted free agent last summer. Thus, Niemi could replace the man he replaced in Chicago.