Blackhawks Struggling to Maintain Winning Roster
The main pitfall of winning a Stanley Cup is that it becomes impossible to maintain the winning roster due to rising contractual demands, increased bidding from other teams, and the need to add fresh players. The most recent Cup winners, the Chicago Blackhawks, are beginning to find this out.
The San Jose Sharks have put the pressure on Chicago by offering restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson a sizeable deal. The Blackhawks now have seven days to match the four year, $14 million offer.
Though only 23, Hjalmarsson played a crucial role on Chicago’s cup-winning team. In just his first full National Hockey League season, Hjalmarsson had 17 points with a plus/minus rating of +9 through 77 regular season games. In the play-offs, he maintained the same plus rating while adding another eight goals over 22 games.
His play-off performance is the reason for such a strong offer. The San Jose Sharks were swept by Chicago in the Western Conference Finals. Hjalmarsson’s performance in the series evidently impressed Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson.
"We feel Niklas is a top-three defenseman in the National Hockey League," Wilson said. "We saw his abilities first-hand in the play-offs last season and he was an important piece of a Stanley Cup-winning team. He is a solid player that would be a good fit on our team now and in the future."
The Blackhawks has developed Hjalmarsson since selecting him in the fourth-round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to debuting for Chicago, Hjalmarsson played for their American Hockey League affiliate Rockford IceHogs. He has also played for HV71 in the Swedish Elite League.
For a young player, Hjalmarsson is very experienced and has played in 111 regular season games and 39 play-off games. A redirection of one of Hjalmarsson’s shots by Andrew Ladd was a crucial goal en route to Chicago’s 3-2 victory over Philadelphia in the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
If Hjalmarsson does depart for San Jose, he will join a few other Hawks who will be playing for new teams next season. Perhaps the biggest departure is that of Dustin Byfuglien. Byfuglien was sent to the Atlanta Thrashers, along with Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu, in order to shed salary cap space.
Right winger and 24-year-old Kris Versteeg was also traded by the Blackhawks this off season. Versteeg, and his deal worth $9 million over three years, was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for prospect forwards.
If the Blackhawks cannot match the Sharks’ offer, they will not be left entirely empty handed. The conditions on Hjalmarsson’s restrictions would give Chicago San Jose’s first- and third-round picks in next year’s NHL Entry Draft.
Chicago is put into an interesting predicament. They need to maintain their defensive line, especially with their reliance on defence over goaltending. Their formula for success with 26-year-old Antti Niemi in goal was always to provide him with a powerful blue-line, which has dissipated thoroughly this off season.
Chicago have shown themselves to be one of the better teams in the League in youth development and could bring up some younger defensemen from their affiliate ranks.
San Jose needs Hjalmarsson badly as well. The retirement of Rob Blake has left them with quite a defensive void and Hjalmarsson could perhaps the body to fill it. The Sharks are attempting to use the successful style of play the Hawks used and thus it makes sense that they would attempt to purge away one of their defensemen.
Whichever team Hjalmarsson signs with, he should be able to start immediately and has all the characteristics to become the long-term face of a franchise.
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