The Rangers today made a peripheral move, dealing left wing Ville Nieminen to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2006 3rd Round Pick. A healthy scratch in his last game as a Ranger, Nieminen had been in and out of the line-up several times as Rangers coach Tom Renney experimented with line combinations and attempted to get a more aggressive game from the Finnish silver medalist.
The move comes just days before Petr Prucha is expected to return from injury, but may have also been made as a result of the play of several Rangers prospects down in Hartford. There’s also some speculation that the Rangers may now make another move, and perhaps include this pick or another in the deal.
| Ville Nieminen | |
| Height: 6-0 | Age: 28 |
| Weight: 210 | Birthday: April 6, 1977 |
| Position: Left Wing | Birthplace: Tampere, Finland |
| Shoots: Left | Drafted: 1997 NHL Entry Draft – Colorado Avalanche – #78 (3rd round) |
| Salary: 2 years, 700k per year | |
| REGULAR SEASON | ||||||||||||
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | PPG | SHG | SOG | |
| 1999-2000 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2000-2001 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 50 | 14 | 8 | 22 | +8 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 68 | |
| 2001-2002 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| 2002-2003 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 9 | 12 | 21 | -25 | 93 | 0 | 2 | 86 | |
| 2003-2004 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 2 | 11 | 13 | -15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 56 | |
| 2003-2004 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 19 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 27 | |
| 2005-2006 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 5 | 12 | 17 | +10 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 72 | |
| NHL Totals | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
CAR
PHI
PIT
WSH
CBJ
NYI