The Philadelphia Flyers have shown their faith in Antero Niittymaki, re-signing the young goaltender to a two-year deal.

Niittymaki's statistics dipped in his sophomore season as the Flyers limped to a last-place finish in the league. The Finnish native had a 9-29-9 record, with a 3.38 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 52 games.

Antero Niittymaki has appeared in 98 games over the past two seasons for Philadelphia.
(Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

Terms of the deal were not announced. The netminder made $1 million US last season and was a restricted free agent.

"We believe that Antero is a very good young goalie," GM Paul Holmgren said in a release Thursday. "He is only 26 years old and we feel that he is still on the upswing.

"We feel that our goaltending, along with Marty Biron, is strong, and we are excited to have both of them under contract."

The Flyers acquired Biron from Buffalo at the trade deadline and later gave him a two-year extension.

Niittymaki is 35-44-15 with a 3.12 GAA and .896 save percentage and two shutouts in his young career.

He was a late addition to the 2006 Finnish Olympic squad after Calgary Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff elected not to play due to injury.

Niittymaki earned Olympic tournament MVP honours after going 5-1-0 with a 1.34 GAA and .951 save percentage, helping Finland take the silver medal.

Longtime Flyers goaltender Robert Esche, who has struggled with injuries, is an unrestricted free agent.

With files from the Canadian Press