Sharks trade Niemi’s rights, move up to draft defenseman
The San Jose Sharks ended the NHL draft without resolving one of the biggest needs they had entering the weekend: finding a starting goaltender.
Instead of acquiring one of the several goalies who changed teams this weekend, the Sharks traded the negotiating rights to former starter Antti Niemi to Dallas for a seventh-round pick Saturday.
Niemi was 31-23-7 last season with a 2.59 goals-against average and .914 save percentage as San Jose’s 10-year playoff run ended.
After taking right wing Timo Meier of Halifax in the first round on Friday, the Sharks traded up for the first pick in the second round Saturday to draft defenseman Jeremy Roy of Sherbrooke from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The Sharks dealt Colorado’s 2016 second-round pick and 2017 sixth-rounder back to the Avalanche to move up eight sports for a player they viewed as a first-round prospect.
The Sharks then drafted goalie Mike Robinson with a third-round pick acquired from Edmonton as compensation for coach Todd McLellan.
San Jose also acquired defenseman Patrick McNally from Vancouver for a seventh-round pick acquired at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders for Tyler Kennedy.