The Dallas Stars have acquired the rights to goaltender Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.
DAL acquires negotiating rights to Antti Niemi.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 27, 2015
They have sent their seventh round pick, number 193, to the Sharks for the rights to negotiate with Niemi.
This allows the Stars to keep their second round pick, heavily rumored to be heading to the New York Rangers for Cam Talbot. This draft is deep and the Stars should get a very good player with their second rounder.
Dallas now has until Wednesday to get Niemi under contract, presumably, to be the backup. Goalies have been getting traded left and right this morning. The Stars picked theirs up, assuming they are able to agree to terms. Presumably the Stars have an idea what Niemi is looking for and a deal can get hammered out quickly. This move should also spell the end of Jhonas Enroth as a Star.
We’ll have more on this as we go along.