As reported across all major sports websites, fan blogs, and twitter accounts alike, the San Jose Sharks signed Niklas Hjalmarsson to a four year, $14 million offer sheet.
In Blackhawk fandom, this means Chicago has seven days to match the deal or be bitten.
The Blackhawks organization has been the focus of restricted free agent talks with both Hjalmarsson and Antti Niemi over the past week.
The worries regarding the possible signing of the Finnish net-minder were expected.
With Jaroslav Halak recently signing a four year, $15 million contract with St. Louis, the Hawks were already projecting a tight squeeze.
Now, with the Sharks seemingly determined to not only bolster their defensive corps, but to strip their nemesis of a valuable tool, the Hawks face a hard decision.
Many reports have had Niemi ideally going for around $3 million, with Hjalmarsson being signed for nearly $2.5 million. It made sense at the time, assuming we could sign the young players for around $5.5 million.
That is no longer a reality.
What GM Stan Bowman has to decide is who is w ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Kyle Wahlgren
The Bowman Reaction: Blackhawks Decide On Antti Niemi Or Niklas Hjalmarsson
July 9th, 2010 by Kyle Wahlgren Leave a reply »
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