The Antti Niemi era in Dallas is mercifully over.
Per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, the Stars will place Niemi on waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract. The buyout will result in a $1.5 million cap hit in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Niemi, 33, joined the Stars in 2015 with the hope he’d form an effective tandem with Kari Lehtonen.
But the experiment was a dismal failure. In 85 games over two seasons, Niemi registered a .900 save percentage, and the Stars responded last month by signing Ben Bishop to a six-year contract worth almost $30 million.
GM Jim Nill had hoped that one of Niemi or Lehtonen could be traded in the wake of the Bishop signing.
Lehtonen, 33, is still under contract for another year at a cap hit of $5.9 million. He had a .902 save percentage last season, higher than Niemi’s .892.