The Stars have placed Antti Niemi on waivers with the intent of buying out the final year of his contract.
Niemi is scheduled to make $4.5 million in 2017-18, and league rules allow a buyout at two-thirds of the remaining contract or $3 million. The Stars can then spread the cap hit of that buyout over two seasons or $1.5 million.
That leaves the Stars with more than $20 million in cap space for this upcoming season to sign their restricted free agents, make trades for high-dollar players, or pursue free agents.
Niemi ended up being one of general manager Jim Nill's worst moves. He was signed to a three-year contract that averaged $4.5 million in hopes of creating a goaltending duo with Kari Lehtonen. While the pair were good in the first season, they fell apart last year. Niemi went 12-12-4 with a 3.30 goals against average and .892 save percentage. Of the 44 goalies that qualified for NHL rankings, Niemi was 44th in GAA and 43rd in save percentage.
When Nill traded for the rights to Ben Bishop and signed him to a six-year contract, one of the two remaining goalies had to go. Lehtonen has one more year on his deal at $5.9 million, so the buyout would have been more expensive, and he also was a better goalie last season.
Lehtonen went 22-25-7 and had a 2.85 GAA and .902 save percentage. The Stars believe he will be a better goalie in the upcoming season as a backup to Bishop, and with Ken Hitchcock as a coach that is expected to provide a better defensive system.
Niemi will become an unrestricted free agent and can sign with anybody. He also could return to Finland and play there if he likes. He will turn 34 on Aug. 29 and has a 227-125-86 career record with a 2.49 GAA and .913 save percentage.
