Sharks sign Hjalmarsson to Offer Sheet
The San Jose Sharks have signed Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet reported to be worth $14 million over four years. The Blackhawks have seven days to decide whether or not they would like to match the offer. If not, Hjalmarsson would move to the Sharks and the Blackhawks would get San Jose’s first and third round picks in the 2011 National Hockey League entry draft.
Hjalmarsson started his playing career in Sweden playing for Swedish Elite League side HV71. He played professionally in Sweden for three seasons, and was drafted in 2005 by the Chicago Blackhawks taken in the fourth round, at 108th overall.
For the first two years of his North America career he split time between the Blackhawks and their American Hockey League affiliate the Rockford IceHogs. He found a full time spot with the club in time for the 2009-10 season. Hjalmarsson had a strong 2009-10 season playing in 77 games, recording 2 goals, 15 assists, for 17 points. He spent much of the year bouncing between the second and third defensive pairings.
Why the Sharks Signed
For the Sharks, Hjalmarsson represents an upgrade at the back end. Last season the top-four defenseman for the Sharks were one of the best cores in the NHL, however their bottom two were scratching trying to remain NHL regulars. Couple this with the fact that former captain and defensive stalwart Rob Blake retired this off-season. Getting Hjalmarsson with this offer sheet would mean they could begin to fill the holes on the blue line. With Dan Boyle, Douglas Murray, and Marc-Eduard Vlasic making up the Sharks top three, Hjalmarsson would be able to come in and fill out the top four.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson believes that Hjalmarsson can step in a be a very important player for the Sharks, stating “We feel Niklas is a top-three defenseman in the National Hockey League...He is a solid player that would be a good fit on our team now and in the future.”
Wilson got to see Hjalmarsson first hand when the Blackhawks swept the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals of last years playoffs.
Will the Blackhawks Match?
Hjalmarsson represents a very important piece to the puzzle for the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Already forced to give up playoff stand outs Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg due to salary cap restrictions, the thought of loosing Hjalmarsson as well puts a damper on any plans to repeat as cup winners.
Hjalmarsson was set to fill the void as a top-four defenseman for the Blackhawks and perhaps fill the role of Brian Campbell, who seems to have lost the flash he had in past seasons. Nevertheless, the Blackhawks may not have a choice, with starting goalie Antii Niemi and top-six forward Andrew Ladd both in arbitration it is unclear how much cap space they are going to have left to sign Hjalmarsson to such a lucrative contract.
Another problem presented to Chicago is the fact that they are not going to have enough cap space to sign a top-four defenseman as an unrestricted free agent. On the other hand, if they are determined to hang on to Hjalmarsson they could choose to not sign Andrew Ladd, or make a trade within the next seven days freeing up the cap space necessary to sign the young defender.
If Hjalmarsson were to sign with the Sharks it would be the first restricted free agent signed by another club this off-season. For the Sharks the deal is expensive, especially for a defenseman that has only spent one full year in the NHL, however Hjalmarsson holds a great deal of promise and was expected to be a top-four defenseman next year.
For Chicago the bleeding continues, if Hjalmarsson were to walk, they would have already lost three key components to their cup winning team.
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