Blackhawks Match Hjalmarsson Offer

 

Unprepared to let a 23-year old defensive juggernaut out of the organization, the Chicago Blackhawks made the risky financial committment to match San Jose's offer for Niklas Hjalmarsson and bring the young Swede back into the fold on a four-year, $14 million deal.

"We're going to match the offer and we're going to get the paperwork done today," Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman told Brian Hedger of NHL.com. "... We've been meeting over the last couple days. Niklas was a big part of our success last year and he's a big part of our core that's going to be together for a long time."

The contract represents a $3.5 million annual cap hit to a Blackhawks organization that has worked feverishly this summer to cut player expenses in order to become cap compliant. Since Hjalmarsson's actual salary will be equal to the cap it, this new deal also calls for a $2.834 million raise from the $666,000 he earned last season.

The Blackhawks, who now sit $113,410 under the salary cap according to CapGeek, were not really prepared for this type of expense. After dealing off the likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd, they figured to have enough space to re-sign the likes of goaltender Antti Niemi and Hjalmarsson. The Sharks tender for the restricted free agent left Chicago in a dilemma: match the offer and end up right back in a challenging financial situation, or let the Sharks have him and receive first and third round draft picks as compensations.

On Monday, the decision was made to retain Hjalmarsson's services. In doing so, the Blackhawks will bring back the team's best shot blocker and a top overall defensive presence. But this move may have also signaled the end of Niemi's tenure in Chicago.

Niemi has a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for July 29 and is believed to be seeking a deal worth $4 million. If he receives anything in that neighborhood, Bowman may have no other option than to walk away. Based on Jaroslav Halak's deal with the St. Louis Blues, he should get at least $3.75 million.

In the meantime, Bowman will try to unload some more salary. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun says that Brian Campbell and Patrick Sharp are being dangled on the trade market. But Campbell's contract ($7,142,875 million in each of the next six seasons) is basically untradeable and dealing Sharp is a move the Blackhawks would really rather not make.

Hedger noted that the Blackhawks are expected to demote Cristobal Huet to Rockford of the AHL, which would buy them $5.6 million in extra cap space. That would leave Chicago with about $5.74 million in available funds and plenty of cash to keep Niemi in the fold. But there has yet to be definitive indication that the Blackhawks are prepared to make that move with Huet. And even having the money doesn't mean the Blackhawks want to pay Niemi starter money without a full year in the role.

It's still possible - albeit unlikely - that Huet could enter next season as the team's No. 1 goalie. Or, Bowman could scour the free agent market where Marty Turco and Jose Theodore are still unsigned.