The Montreal Canadiens are enjoying another season of steady hockey from Antti Niemi, and it’s hard not to think they try to keep him around for one more.
There won’t (shouldn’t) be any debates on who the starting goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens is. Carey Price is the guy and will be for another seven years at $10.5 million. But the backup position has proven to be a spot all teams need to have secured for a successful season.
Look back to last year’s Stanley Cup Champions. Bradon Holtby lost his way in the second half of the 2017/18 season forcing Phillipp Grubauer to take over. The then 26-year-old played a career-high 35 regulation games and started the playoffs for the Capitals against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Washington eventually went back to Holtby, but Grubauer kept the dream alive which resulted in a Stanley Cup.
Antti Niemi has been the guy behind Price since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers last season. He turned things around in Montreal giving the team quality starts and has continued that this year. Niemi’s latest masterpiece was his 52-save victory over the Florida Panthers
Mike Hoffman was the only Panther to beat Niemi. The 35-year-old shut the door on Florida after that no matter what kind of shot and from where. That night marked Niemi’s third game in a row with a save percentage greater than .930, and given how many goals are being allowed in the NHL lately, that’s pretty impressive.
As the Montreal Canadiens keep working for a playoff berth in April, the question as to what Niemi’s future in the organization is going to come up. Niemi was only signed to a one-year deal last summer at $950,000. The plan has always appeared to have Charlie Lindgren be the future backup for Montreal.
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Niemi’s resurgence may have delayed the process there as the team chose to go with Niemi and have Lindgren be the starter with the Laval Rocket again. Good choice as getting minutes at a young age is key to developing talent. The same thing could happen next season if Niemi keeps this up. How could they not give him another contract if he finishes with numbers equal to or better than what he had last year?
He’s getting closer to .900 with every passing game and the numbers don’t lie. Niemi is showing any signs of slowing down and the Habs are confident with him in net. His relationship with Price and goaltending coach Stephane Waite has been documented as well as a big part of what’s been working. So the famous line of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” could easily apply here.
Gauging Laval is another part of the argument. The team is set to have another playoff-less year and shouldn’t hope to have that happen again for the 2019/20 campaign. Player personnel, the growth of young players, as well as Joël Bouchard’s efforts will be what matters in turning things around, but goaltending will too.
Michael McNiven hasn’t had the best season and hasn’t earned much confidence to be the Rocket’s number one. Having Lindgren addresses concerns in that department if he’s able to stay. On the other hand, if the Montreal Canadiens feel grooming Lindgren to be an effective 1B who can get more starts than the usual backup is more important, then off to the NHL he goes next season.
The beauty of this is the Habs aren’t forced to rush any decision with Niemi performing as well as he has been.
It’ll be interesting to see the thought process of Marc Bergevin when it comes to Niemi. Another one-year deal could bring a lot of value to the Montreal Canadiens next season and if by some poor luck Niemi falls off or is injured, Lindgren is still in the system to step up to the plate.