San Jose Sharks Look to Pilfer Niklas Hjalmarsson from Champs

July 10th, 2010 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
According to NHL.com , the San Jose Sharks have offered Chicago Blackhawks restricted free agent defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson a four-year, $14 million contract. The $3.5 million per year offer suggests that the Sharks want him badly in teal next season.

The Sharks would have to surrender a first- and third-round pick should the Blackhawks not match the offer; they have seven days to make their decision. If San Jose had offered an average of just over $3 million, the compensation to the Blackhawks would have been only a second-round pick, likely making re-signing him more attractive than the combination of picks and cap space gotten for losing him.

And that is just it: The price for Hjalmarsson is going to be high now both for the team's present salary cap and for future prospects. Of course, Hjalmarsson is just 23 and more of a sure thing than picks, although there could be tremendous potential in one or both of them.

I had long been advocating the team making a play for both Hjalmarsson and goalie Annti Niemi from Chicago, to either steal them or force them to spend their limited cap room so they would be able to sign less supporting cast. I ...

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