CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have signed veteran goaltender Marty Turco to a one-year deal, parting ways with Stanley Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi.
Niemi was awarded a $2.75 million judgment from an arbitrator on Saturday, and the Blackhawks had 48 hours to accept the judgment, trade him or let him become an unrestricted free agent. He now is an unrestricted free agent.
“We made several contract offers, including a multiyear offer, and we were never able to work it out,” Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. “We decided to go in another direction.
“We’re very excited that we agreed to a one-year contract with three-time All-Star Marty Turco. Marty has an accomplished record in the league, and he’s going to complement our team. I know he’s hungry for a Stanley Cup, and we’re hungry to defend the Stanley Cup.”
Turco gets $1.3 million, a source told ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside on Monday.
Niemi’s agent Bill Zito told ESPNChicago.com that Chicago never extended a multiyear offer, but Bowman didn’t want to argue the point.
“We discussed some numbers, but did not really get off them in so far as structuring a specific multiyear offer,” Zito said. “It was more of a general conversation surrounding limitations placed on [Bowman] by the cap. But there is no drama there, what could we do?
“We always knew this would be a risk, and anytime you file for arbitration, in this climate, we knew this could be a possibility — so we live with our decisions.”
Zito said Niemi, who is back home in Finland, is disappointed. Niemi, 26, was 26-7 with a 2.25 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. He also had seven shutouts.
Turco, 34, went 22-20 with a 2.72 goals-against average and .913 save percentage and four shutouts for the Dallas Stars.
“We were a little bit surprised [to get this opportunity],” said Turco, who was vacationing with friends in Scotland. “I said earlier about the desire to play for [the Blackhawks] before the playoffs even began. When they won, I assumed the opportunity was erased.
“I’m more than excited to help Chicago do what they want to do, which is [defend] the Stanley Cup. It’s been almost a dream come true to play for an Original Six team, especially one with [the number of] Tony Esposito, who’s from my hometown [Saul Ste. Marie, Ontario], up in the rafters. It’s an amazing day for my family and me to become a Blackhawk.”
Bowman said the Blackhawks are nearly complete with their massive overhaul due to salary cap constraints, although he did say they would add a defenseman.
“The players that aren’t with us anymore, we’ll always have that championship together,” Bowman said. “There was no bitterness at all about that.
“[Niemi] was a big part of it, clearly. But we’re we’re on to the next thing. We’re excited about the opportunity to defend the Cup. And we’re very excited to have someone of Marty’s caliber in our organization. We have to look forward. We had a great season last year, a great ending, but we’re looking forward.”
Bowman said he’ll turn his attention now to what to do with veteran Cristobal Huet, whose contract likely will have to come off the books. He said Turco will be a good mentor for young goalie Corey Crawford.
