Niemi
The Pens shored up their goaltending depth with the signing of veteran free agent Antti Niemi to a one-year, $700,000-dollar contract. The deal made sense for both sides. The Pens wanted a veteran goaltender with a high pedigree to back up starter Matt Murray at a reasonable salary. Meanwhile, Niemi was looking to play such a role on a Cup-contending team. Out of all the goaltenders on the free agent market, Niemi was the best fit for the Pens.
"It was two-fold," general manager Jim Rutherford said of the signing. "One, we wanted to make sure we got a goalie on a one-year deal. Some of the other goalies were getting multi-year deals. That eliminated some of those guys. Two, we had to get somebody that we're comfortable with. (Goalie coach) Mike Buckley is very comfortable with Niemi."
Signing with the Pens was also an easy decision for Niemi, 33, to make. They are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and a perennial contender.
"It felt like a great fit to get to the top organization in the league," he told the Pens website. "It's such a good team. The organization, you always hear about how things are done right in Pittsburgh. I want to be a part of that. It was a really quick process. There wasn't a lot of time to think. There some other teams, but at the end it was an easy choice."
Niemi fits the mold of exactly what the Pens needed. He's a veteran goalie that has played eight-plus NHL seasons and over 400 regular-season games. Niemi also has a Stanley Cup title on his resume, leading the Chicago Blackhawks to the title in his first full NHL season in 2010. But the Vantaa, Finland native struggled last season with the Dallas Stars, particularly in the latter half of the season. Niemi was relegated as the team's backup and won only three games total in the final three months.
"The first half was pretty good. I felt like I had a good season," Niemi said. "But the last three months were really tough, getting pulled a lot. I had a long stretch where I didn't win a game for a month. That time was tough."
Buckley will work closely with Niemi to help him improve upon his game. The Pens are confident that Niemi can reclaim his early-career success.
"(Buckley) knows there is a little bit of work there, that (Niemi) has to have a bounce-back season," Rutherford said. "We feel very strongly that he's capable of doing that and should be able to play between 30-40 games for us."
Niemi's presence also will allow the Pens more time to develop prospect Tristan Jarry, the club's second-round pick (44th overall) in 2013. The team's preference all along was to have Jarry start the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, though they are confident that he can play in the NHL if needed.
"We're comfortable with the fact that we know Jarry can play games here," Rutherford said. "He's ready to do that. We also feel that extra time in the AHL playing more games is the right thing to do. He could have a real good first half and still be playing some games here toward the end of the season."
But regardless of how Jarry develops, the Pens now have some flexibility with the addition of Niemi.
"We felt it was important to add a veteran, backup goalie at this point in time," Rutherford said, "that would help Jarry's development."
Hunwick
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Matt Hunwick to a three-year contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford. The deal runs through the 2019-20 season and has an average annual value of $2.25 million. Hunwick, 32, joins the Penguins after a two-year stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was a leader for the young club as an alternate captain both years. This year, Hunwick posted the second-best offensive totals of his nine-plus year career with 19 points (1G-18A) and a plus-8 in 72 regular-season contests. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound defender skated in all six playoff games this past spring for the Leafs, averaging 25:39 minutes, stepping up for an injury-ravaged defensive group. During the regular season, Hunwick sat fourth on the club with an average of 2:40 shorthanded minutes per game for the league's 10th-best penalty killing unit. Hunwick, who hails from Warren, Michigan, keyed Toronto's improvement on the PK from 22nd place the year before his arrival, to 13th overall his first year, and the top-10 showing last year. In his first year in Toronto in 2015-16, Hunwick's 3:43 shorthanded minutes per contest ranked first among all NHL players.
Originally chosen by the Boston Bruins in the seventh round (224th overall) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Hunwick has played nine-plus NHL seasons for Boston, Colorado, the New York Rangers and Toronto. Hunwick has appeared in 479 NHL games with those clubs, producing 21 goals, 86 assists and 107 points. He has seven assists in 26 career playoff contests. Hunwick has an extensive history representing USA Hockey, including back-to-back World Junior Championship appearances in 2004 and '05, and an appearance at the 2013 World Championship. The Americans won gold at the '04 WJC, and Hunwick teamed with Phil Kessel on the '05 squad. Hunwick and Team USA earned a bronze medal at the '13 World Championship, when his plus-9 led the entire tournament. Prior to turning pro, Hunwick played four seasons collegiately at Michigan, where he was team captain as a senior, and an alternate captain as a junior.
Hunwick, who grew up in Roseville, Mich., has lived in Dexter with his wife and son for the past 15 years. It's only about a four-hour drive to Pittsburgh from there, so the thought of playing so close to friends and family was one reason he signed a three-year deal with the Penguins on the first day of free agency. The other, of course, was to be part of a perennial Stanley Cup contender.
"Part of it had to do with the caliber of team they have, the championship window that they're in right now," Hunwick said Saturday. "Part of it was the opportunity that I have in terms of playing close in proximity to where I live. There's a lot of things that go into making a decision like this, and certainly you have to think about your family when you have a wife and a son and a dog and those kinds of things. You kind of couple everything together and if you have a chance to be on a really good team, it was just a no-brainer for me."
After watching Pittsburgh in the playoffs the last couple of years, Hunwick felt that his style of play would be a fit in their systems. He said the big strengths of his game are his skating, his compete level and getting back and moving the puck quick.
"I think watching Pittsburgh throughout the playoffs the last couple years, they certainly have that in their game where they like to get the puck up to the forwards," he said. "That's certainly the strength of the club. So I hope to bring that element of my game and hopefully it transitions well."
Hunwick is coming off a season where he posted the second-best offensive totals of his nine plus year career with 19 points (1G-18A) and a plus-8 in 72 regular-season contests with Toronto. While he can chip in points, he said he's not going to put up huge numbers. Hunwick said for him, it's more about skating quick and moving the puck quick. Hunwick spent the last two seasons with the Maple Leafs, and added dimension to his game during his time there. A big part of his job was killing penalties, as Hunwick ranked fourth on the club with an average of 2:40 shorthanded minutes per game for the league's 10th-best penalty killing unit.
"It's a role I grew into and really enjoyed doing that," said Hunwick, who has also played for Boston, Colorado and the New York Rangers. "I haven't played power play in a few years. The penalty kill is something I looked to and really wanted to be good at. It was kind of a role I helped create for myself in Toronto and I'd love to be able to do that in Pittsburgh. I have no idea what will happen, but that's certainly something I've done in the past and would love to do it there."
The left-handed shot also got a lot of practice on playing the right side, something he said he feels comfortable doing. Overall, it was a unique two years for Hunwick in Toronto - where he was an alternate captain - as they went from finishing last in the league standings to taking Washington to seven games in the First Round of the 2017 playoffs. Now, Hunwick is looking forward to this new opportunity with Pittsburgh. And while he admitted that while it hasn't quite sunk in yet that he's now a Penguin, he's certainly thrilled.
"I'm excited," he said. "I've gotten a lot of calls and texts from my friends and family today and everyone's really happy with the decision to go to Pittsburgh."
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