News is floating around that Chicago Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet will sign with a Swiss League team in the near future, and will leave North America.
The immediate impact on the Blackhawks will be enormous, but it's an assumed transaction. Huet's salary cap number, $5.625 million, will be off the books while he's loaned to the Swiss team. He wasn't going to be on the Hawks' NHL roster this year anyway, so where he plays has little impact on the Blackhawks.
The small impact on the Hawks' future, though, is that whichever backup between Hannu Toivonen and Corey Crawford doesn't make the NHL will not have to fight Huet for minutes in Rockford this year. This could provide the team's scouts with important time to see what they have in Toivonen or other young netminders, with new starter Marty Turco under a one-year deal.
What's more fascinating about this move is that Huet is finding a new home before Antti Niemi.
Niemi's agent, Bill Zito, gambled and lost in arbitration this summer, and is still trying to find a team somewhere in the world to pay his client. Niemi maintains that he wants to be in the NHL, but there doesn't appear to ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by TAB BAMFORD
Cristobal Huet to Swiss League: Why It’s an Intriguing Move
August 23rd, 2010 by TAB BAMFORD Leave a reply »
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