Blackhawks' Niemi gets $2.75M in arbitration

Finnish goalie Antti Niemi was awarded a $2.75 million salary for next season, an arbitrator's decision that could force the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to make another tough decision about their NHL roster.

Niemi earned $826,875 last season as a rookie. He played all but one period of Chicago's playff run to the title, going 16-6 with a 2.63 goals-against average, and two shutouts.

To remain under the NHL's $59.4 million salary cap, the Blackhawks may have offered as little as $2 million to Niemi, who has played in just 42 regular-season games in his career. The NHL Players Association confirmed the arbitrator's ruling on Saturday.

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