What Doug Wilson wants, Doug Wilson gets

Canada Day is done and the Sharks have a new goalie in town, Finnish netminder Antero Niittymaki, who is going to make my spell check crazy for the next two years. This was a shocker, especially since there was so much chatter about the evil Marty Turco and so much hype about former Nashville goalie Dan Ellis. The lesson learned is we all should have listened to Doug Wilson when he said last week that they are looking for a butterfly style goalie – a change of technique from the athletic style of the Franchise Goalie Formerly Known as Nabby. The Sharks signed Niittymaki to a 2 year/4M deal, allowing the Sharks to change styles in net and also not break the bank in the process. Here’s the pros and cons to this deal, as I see it.

PRO: Niittymaki has had a Halak/Niemi type run on the biggest stage in the world by playing out of his mind in the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a Silver Medal for Team Finland and the MVP of the Men’s Tournament with three shutouts and a 1.34GAA and .951 SV%. This is the type of pedigree I was hoping for in our new goalie – the ability to take over a series. The change of pace/style might be refreshing for this franchise.

CON: Niittymaki has not found this success at the NHL level in consistent stretches and has no real NHL playoff experience. He’s never been the clear #1 goalie and he certainly wasn’t given the title today in San Jose. It sounds like the Sharks will ride the hot hand, which certainly worked for Philly, Montreal and Chicago this season. Doug Wilson was extremely aggressive in signing Niittymaki and I guess gets kudos for getting his target, but given the cash more established goalies like Dan Ellis (2 years/3M in Tampa Bay) and Chris Mason (2 years/3.7M) got later in the day, you would think that DW could have waited and got his man for $500,000 less.

I was shocked earlier today by the move but I think I’m okay with it. I honestly didn’t see what all the fuss was about with Dan Ellis and maybe he’ll prove Yzerman a genius – but that guy peaked in 2008 with his playoff performance against the Red Wings and has been average ever since – and all I can remember about Chris Mason was how the Sharks embarrassed him in the playoffs when he was in Nashville. So, if Doug Wilson and company researched the options and after striking out with Halak, this was the next best thing – I have to trust them. Who’s to say Greiss won’t play the lion’s share of the games or that Alex Stalock won’t be breathing down their necks in training camp. It will be a good old fashioned roster spot battle and that type of fever seemed to work wonders for teams last season.

Manny Malhotra is gone – to Vancouver with a 3 year/7.5M deal. That’s too much cash for Faceoff Master Manny – no thank you. Doug Wilson made the right call here to walk away from the classy Malhotra and I think this is an excellent opportunity to follow another trend that worked this last year – the shutdown pest center. That isn’t Malhotra, he’s too much of a gentlemen and didn’t have the consistent defensive drive that a guy like The Rat Bolland did against the Sharks (notice Bolland is still in Chicago).

We have to all calm down and remember the Sharks Western Conference Finals team roster didn’t take shape until September. I still believe with the 8M of cap room that significant changes will take place and Doug Wilson will add that defenseman we crave, but now via the trade market. Could we see an ironic switch of positions with Vancouver looking to dump the 3.75M contract of Kevin Bieksa on San Jose? Last year the Sharks sent a valuable player in Ehrhoff with the DW special salary dump guy (Lukowich) for two nothing prospects. Could the Sharks get Kevin Bieksa for two prospects we’ll never miss?

So many funny moves today, please chime in with your best and worst deal of the day. So far, I’m taking Darryl Sutter bringing back the poster boy for losing, Olli Jokinen, to Calgary as the WORST contract and a sure sign that Sutter has gone completely bat-$%&# crazy. The best move of the day goes to the Pittsburgh Penguins for getting Z. Michalek on a four year deal worth 4M per season. An outstanding value.