The likelihood of the san jose sharks against the sportsbook NHL probabilities in NHL hockey betting got better on Thursday as they signed goalkeeper Antero Niittymaki to a 2-year $4 million contract.

The Sharks wasted no time in getting one of the top free agent goalies on the market since they had already decided they were not going to re-sign longtime goalkeeper Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov got a lot of the blame when the sharks continuously underperformed against the sportsbook online probabilities in the playoffs.

The Sharks concluded last season with the top record in the NHL but in the playoffs they bombed all over again. Obtaining Niittymaki is the 1st step for San Jose to rectify some of their problems. He was still pretty great last season despite the fact that he spent it with a pretty weak Tampa Bay squad. The Sharks are learning that a high priced goalkeeper is no better in today’s NHL than a more cost effective one like Chicago’s Antti Niemi or Philadelphia’s Michael Leighton. Niiittymaki enters the season as the starter, even though the Sharks also have some young goaltenders they like in Thomas Greiss and Alex Stalock. Last season Niittymaki went 21-18-5 with a 2.87 goals-against average. He is 83-79-28 in six NHL seasons, lots of which were with average or below average teams.

Niittymaki started off his career in his native Finland. He then played for an AHL squad, the Philadelphia Phantoms, from 2002-2005 along with for their NHL affiliate, the flyers. He assisted to get the Calder Cup in 2005 and was granted the Butterfield Trophy for being the MVP along the way, making a name for himself in the league. The Philadelphia Flyers signed him as a backup goalkeeper for the 2005-06 season. He played through until July 2009, when he was signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a backup goalkeeper. He lead the league in both saving percent and goal vs average for the 2009-10 season. He competed quite effectively for the Lightning from that point on, actually, until July 1 when he became an unrestricted free agent. He immediately signed the 2-year contract with the Sharks.

Although they did lose free agent forward Manny Malhotra, San Jose already re-signed forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. The Sharks are trying to rebuild their image after plenty of playoff failures. In that regard, San Jose nonetheless has some work to do. Joe Thornton is a remarkable passer and one of the foremost scorers in the NHL but in the playoffs he is continuously a bust. Perhaps he may be put on the trade market this summer.

Just how great was San Jose in the regular season a year ago? They ended up 51-20-5-6. In the league, that was great for the top record. But that record didn’t mean much as they lost in the playoffs again, unfortunately for the sharks. Thornton headed them in points with 89 and in total the offense was fourth in the league, scoring 3.1 goals per competition. The defense permitted just 2.5 goals per competition, placing them at a reliable 8th in the league. With Niittymaki in net, that defense may very well be improved next season.


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