Blackhawks Hold on to Hjalmarsson
The Chicago Blackhawks have matched an offer sheet of $14 million signed by the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. By matching the offer sheet Chicago retains the rights to the young defenseman, and the Sharks are forced to look elsewhere to fill the holes on their blue line.
Niklas Hjalmarsson
Hjalmarsson was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks 108th overall in the 4th round of the 2005 National Hockey League entry draft. Hjalmarsson played three professional years in Sweden’s Elite League playing for HV71. He made the move to North America spending most of his first season with the Blackhawks American Hockey League affiliate the Rockford IceHogs.
He shared time between the AHL and NHL throughout the 2008-09 season, before getting fully inserted in the Blackhawks line-up at the start of the 2009-10 season. Hjalmarsson had a strong year in his debut season playing in 77 games notching two goals and 17 points with a plus-nine on the year. He was integral in the Blackhawks cup run playing in all 22 games and tallying eight points. Hjalmarsson averaged over 20 minutes of ice time a night.
What this mean for Chicago
For Chicago this may mean separating themselves from yet another member of the team that won the Cup last season. Hjalmarsson will be paid $3.5 million over the next four years, a total that may force Chicago general manager Stan Bowman to move goaltender Antti Niemi. Hjalmarsson’s pay raise means the Blackhawks find themselves dangerously close to the salary cap. It is expected Bowman will move goaltender Cristobal Huet down to the AHL to free up some space, however, after stellar years from both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews the two are owed bonuses. The Kane, Toews bonuses mean Chicago is once again up against the ceiling. With Andrew Ladd and Antti Niemi still to be signed the Blackhawks are in a bit of a pickle. A trade will have to be made in order to clear up more cap space.
Bowman spoke to press about his team's salary cap issues.
“We’re going to have to work things out…Like we’ve been saying for a long time, there is a salary cap, and we’re aware of that, but that’s ok. We’ve been saying all along our goal is to keep our core together. We’ve been trying to hit that point, and Niklas has been part of that core.”
It was imperative that the Blackhawks get Hjalmarsson back. Their blue line has been depleted and they could not afford to lose such a young player. Hjalmarsson’s 20 minutes of ice time could not be filled by anyone in the current line-up and therefore getting him back means Bowman does not have to scour the market for a suitable defender.
What this Mean for San Jose
For San Jose not being able to sign Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet is not the end of the world. However, it does mean that they will have to find a top-four defenseman somewhere else, and in a shallow free agent pool that may prove difficult. The loss of Rob Blake would have seen Hjalmarsson act as a suitable replacement in the Sharks top-four. The good news for the Sharks is that they still have about $6 million in cap space in which to work, and with no major restricted free agents on the books general manger Doug Wilson still has some leeway, even though they are without a starting goaltender.
The real winner in all this in Hjalmarsson, the 23-year-old got a massive pay raise, gets to stay on a Stanley Cup calibre team and will enjoy increased minutes the Hawks number four defenceman next season. Chicago just has to hope that the youngster can live up to his new contract.
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