Niemi is expected between the posts Saturday night against visiting Tampa Bay, NHL.com's Mark Stepneski reports.

EDGE Analysis

Incumbent No.1 Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen coughed up six goals Thursday night, so we'll have a chance to see how opportunistic Niemi is in his quest to claim the starting job. One of the juiciest advantages that Niemi has over his fellow puck stopper is that he won a Stanley Cup, doing so with the Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. This should be one of the tighter goalie battles ahead of the 2015-16 season.

Niemi signed a three-year extension contract extension with the Stars on Monday, carrying $4.5 value annually, Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada reports. Niemi likely becomes the primary netminder in Dallas ahead of incumbent Kari Lehtonen, who's 2014 saw a big drop off from previous campaigns. As a member of the Sharks in 2014-15, the veteran goaltender posted a 2.59 GAA and .914 save percentage while collecting 31 wins. The Stars surrender a draft pick to obtain him, but likely acquired one of the top veteran goaltenders available.

The Stars acquired Niemi from the Sharks on Saturday morning in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com reports. With the Sharks uninterested in retaining Niemi, a soon-to-be-free-agent, the Stars elected to surrender a draft pick in order to obtain first-negotiation rights with the netminder. It's a similar strategy the Islanders used last season with their acquisition last May of Jaroslav Halak, who ultimately agreed to a four-year, $18 million contract with New York. Widely believed to be the top experienced goalie option on the market, Niemi would likely be viewed by the Stars as an upgrade in net over fellow Finn Kari Lehtonen, who regressed considerably last season. The Stars will look to reach a deal with Niemi before he officially becomes a free agent on midnight of July 1.

Niemi stopped 26 of 27 in Thursday's win over Edmonton. With the Sharks out of the playoff picture, a meaningless win over the basement-dwelling Oilers is a hollow accomplishment, but Niemi's fantasy owners won't complain. Niemi's been schizophrenic in net lately, having allowed exactly four goals three times in his last seven starts and exactly one goal in each of the other four starts. San Jose has one game left this year, and it's unclear currently whether Niemi or Alex Stalock will get the call.

Niemi is slated to start Thursday's game against the Oilers, David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News reports. Coach Todd McLellan has yet to decide which of his goalies will start Saturday's season finale against the Kings, but back-to-back losses in which the team surrendered five goals leaves the Sharks out of playoff contention. Niemi, who is 2-2 over his last four starts, has allowed 13 goals in that span.

Niemi stopped 31 of 35 shots in Saturday's loss to the Coyotes. Not the best night for Niemi, who has allowed four goals in three of his last four games. The 31-year-old falls to 30-23-7 on the season with a .914 save percentage and 2.62 GAA. With it looking like the Sharks won't make the playoffs, the team is likely to give Alex Stalock at least one start in the final few games.

Niemi will start Saturday against the Coyotes, according to Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic. Alex Stalock is fighting through an illness while Niemi is coming off a nice 20-of-21 save start Friday after coming off an illness of his own, so the Sharks will turn to him again. Any start against the Coyotes is a good one daily formats, up and down as Niemi has been this season.

Niemi grabbed the win against Arizona on Friday, stopping 20 of 21 shots in a 3-1 victory. Although it was against the West's resident cellar dwellers, this was a nice win for Niemi, who had sat out the previous three games with an illness. Backup Alex Stalock is reportedly dealing with an illness now, so it's conceivable that Niemi will start again Saturday against the very same Coyotes. Stay tuned.

Niemi (illness) will start Friday's game against the Coyotes, Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports. Alex Stalock is now the one dealing with an illness, so Niemi could start both games of an upcoming back-to-back against the Coyotes. It's also possible the Sharks decide to recall a netminder for Saturday's game, though the call-up wouldn't necessarily start. Niemi missed the last three games while recovering from an illness, but he should be back at full strength for Friday.

Niemi (illness) is expected to return to the net Friday against the Coyotes, Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports. With the illness sapping him of energy, Niemi has ceded the last three starts to backup Alex Stalock. Niemi seems to have made a fair amount of progress over the last couple of days, and it now sounds like Stalock might have actually acquired the bug. So long as the Sharks have one healthy goalie, there probably won't be a need for the team to bring an extra netminder aboard from the AHL ranks.