Antti Niemi has signed a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

A little internal competition doesn’t hurt. When Lindgren signed his 3 year deal, everyone put him as the default backup, and he deserves the spot! It’s just now he’s gonna have to fight for it with Niemi. Which is fine, Niemi did really well considering how bad his defence squad was.

Niemi recovered nicely last year likely with the help of Habs goalie coach Stephane Waite, whom he worked with when he was having big seasons in Chicago. A very affordable internal competition option for the team.

I thought when he came to the habs on waivers, it was a bad move. This signing is good and who knows if he or Lindgren is the backup? They both can be and for a minor league starter this isn't bad either. A backup goalie contest isn't the biggest deal in the world. Having a good farm team is also good.

Niemi could easily be a strong backup behind Price. I think it is a solid signing.

I read somewhere that Lindgren still has waiver exemption until he plays a certain number of additional games so he can log more minutes as a starter in the AHL

Correct. Lindgren will become waiver elidgible in the 2019-20 season or if he somehow plays 43 NHL games next year (which is extremely unlikely). Anyways Niemi is a good backup and can give Lindgren more time as a starter in the AHL to develop better.

Ok, just wait until training camp.