Staff report
The Blackhawks on Thursday acquired center Jeff Taffe from the Florida Panthers in exchange for center Marty Reasoner.
The move saves the Blackhawks around $600,000 in cap space, according to capgeek.com.
Taffe, 29, split last season between the Panthers and the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals. He was originally selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round (30th overall) of the 2000 draft and has 21 goals and 23 assists in 174 career NHL games over parts of seven seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Florida.
The Blackhawks on Thursday acquired center Jeff Taffe from the Florida Panthers in exchange for center Marty Reasoner.
The move saves the Blackhawks around $600,000 in cap space, according to capgeek.com.
Taffe, 29, split last season between the Panthers and the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals. He was originally selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round (30th overall) of the 2000 draft and has 21 goals and 23 assists in 174 career NHL games over parts of seven seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Florida.
Reasoner, 33, was acquired in a trade with Atlanta in June.
Very doubtful that Hawks could get a goalie better than Niemi for the $2M+ he would probably sign for. $6M sure did not get us much for Huet.
for everyone out there, as a goalie who played a few years in the opjhl and a couple games in the o, niemi is an up and down goalie. Yes he made some amazing saves, but if you notice, he had to make some of those saves because of his brutal rebounds, bad angles, and tendency to go down very quick. taking nothing away from him, he won a cup but if you throw a goalie in the hawks net who limits mistakes and can make a big save when needed, you can let niemi go. Now obviously huet, who gives up softies constantly is not the guy, but if we do lose niemi, its not the end all. this team's depth is now considerably less, so quite possibly a goal like the one he gave up vs nashville in game 1, we may not be able to bounce back. just a thought
Stan Bowman is incrementally trying to keep Niemi by dumping smaller salaries without disturbing the core of the Hawks. Will he have enough time and salary to bring Niemi back? At least Bowman is trying. Looks like goaltending is the last position to settle. With Niemi, as the saying goes, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." You at least know somewhat what Niemi is much better than what's out there in free agency.
Couldn't agree with Hawkswin2010 even more !
How can you friggin morons say Niemi sucks ?
Hey, J Pappin... wipe the crap off your glasses please...
You need to go to the bookstore and learn more about hockey ! "Hockey For Idiots " is on sale... Go pick up a copy...
I guess most of you have forgotten that Niemi pretty much sucked last yeear. He did have a couple good games though and that is the very least you would expect out of a NHL goalie.
Chris on July 22, 2010 4:09 PM
R
I dont know what kind of goalie will play for $700k, but I wouldnt want him between the pipes if I had any aspirations of repeating as champs.
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Niemi made just under 800.000 last year, I suppose you would have turned him down if you wanted to win.
Keep Niemi ! I don't know what playoffs people were watching ? We don't win the Cup without him. Sure, I know our defense limits the amount of shots he has to face, but he made many quality saves when the $$$$ was on the line. Game 6 against Philly doesn't even go to OT without the save he made with 30 seconds left in the game. He also made an unbelievable OT save just before Kane's heroics. The goal tender is the most important player on the ice, bar none, he is the "X Factor" in many games including the playoffs. This guy is solid, I don't know how much money he's worth, that's Stan's decision ? Let's just hope the signing of Niemi doesn't turn into a Taffe Pull....
RE: Wayne Maki on July 22, 2010 3:25 PM
Dump Niemi and replace him for 1/4 of the money, he just isn't that good of a goalie. This team has wasted more than enough money on substandard goalies, let's put an end to that now
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I dont know what kind of goalie will play for $700k, but I wouldnt want him between the pipes if I had any aspirations of repeating as champs.
Dump Niemi and replace him for 1/4 of the money, he just isn't that good of a goalie. This team has wasted more than enough money on substandard goalies, let's put an end to that now.
Chris on July 22, 2010 3:13 PM
Huet will either be in Rockford or Europe somewhere. There is EXACTLY 0% chance that he suits up as a Blackhawk next year.
Thanks Chris.
Huet will either be in Rockford or Europe somewhere. There is EXACTLY 0% chance that he suits up as a Blackhawk next year.
What is your plan on Huet > Mr. Bowman!
Wow smart move by Stan Bowman seems like he is trying to clear some cap space and getting ready to sign Niemi if it necessary,
If nothing else, this should show Niemi and his agent that the Hawks are at least TRYING to get him the money he deserves.
I'm sure the Hawks FO has pointed out to them that they only have so much to offer right now. This should be at least a good faith sign to them that they really do want Niemi back.
Niemi budget is now up to 2.8m. He should sign for that. Good move IF they can keep Niemi.