The Chicago Blackhawks aren't letting restricted free agent defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson get away, as the club announced on Monday that they will match the a US$14-million, four-year offer sheet he signed with the San Jose Sharks last week.
The Blackhawks had seven days to match the offer, which was done on Friday. If they didn't match, they would have received San Jose's first- and third-round picks in next year's NHL draft as compensation.
Hjalmarsson, 23, helped Chicago sweep the Sharks in the Western Conference final last season and then beat Philadelphia to win the Stanley Cup. He had a goal and seven assists in the post-season, including two assists against the Sharks. He would have been the 8th player from the Cup winning lineup to leave either through free agency or a trade. Hawk GM Stan Bowman considers Hjalmarsson to part of the team's core and therefore the team had to match the Sharks' offer.
The problem is that Chicago doesn't really have the cap space to sign Hjalmarsson which means another round of salary dumping. Chicago now has 16 players under contract for a total cap hit of $59.307 million. They have only $158,000 in cap space remaining but have to sign 7 more players including goalie Antti Niemi.
I'm sure Neimi is looking for about $3 million per season. Bowman can bury Cristobal Huet's $5.635 million contract in the minors but that still won't be enough to sign Neimi and 7 more players.
Bowman needs to unload Brian Campbell's contract but so far no takers. There are 8 more years on that contract at over $7 million per season. Even if you were to throw in a first round draft pick, most GMs would pass on that deal. Will that mean that Bowman may finally have to more one of his core players, Patrick Sharp. Brian Burke has been keeping his eye on this development since March.
Which brings me back to the Kovalchuk hostage crisis. Pay him and his agent $100 million or else.... umm well or else! GMs around the league don't want to be holding the next Brian Campbell, sucking cap dollars out of your lineup.
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