huzer Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327071 The San Jose Sharks have signed Blackhawks restricted free agent defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson to a free agent offer sheet, signing the defenceman to a four-year, $14 million dollar contract. Chicago has seven days to match the offer. If the team does not match it, they will receive San Jose's first and third round picks in the 2011 NHL entry draft. The dismantling of the Hawks (potentially) continues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakiqc Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Ok, I'm no expert, but did I read 14 million? Hjalmarsson? Wow. I'm not saying the guy isn't talented but... Take the 1st rounder and run! This seems a steep price to pay to get him. First you have to give 14 M on a 4 year deal and then on top of that a 1st and 3rd rounder? wow.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazy26 Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Ok, I'm no expert, but did I read 14 million? Hjalmarsson? Wow. I'm not saying the guy isn't talented but... Take the 1st rounder and run! This seems a steep price to pay to get him. First you have to give 14 M on a 4 year deal and then on top of that a 1st and 3rd rounder? wow.. My thoughts exactly. Maybe this is a Jeff-Finger-to-Toronto situation? Y'know, maybe they confused Hjalmarsson with Keith or Seabrook and thought they were getting something better than him? If I'm Chicago, I'm overjoyed by this offer sheet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 No Hawks fans are overjoyed by this... They're screwed. They can't really match unless they move someone out (like Niemi who's going to arbitration with them) but they also are sick of losing solid players from their Cup run. He's worth the late 1st and 3rd (but not the 3.5M). Win/win for SJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazy26 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 No Hawks fans are overjoyed by this... They're screwed. They can't really match unless they move someone out (like Niemi who's going to arbitration with them) but they also are sick of losing solid players from their Cup run. He's worth the late 1st and 3rd (but not the 3.5M). Win/win for SJ. Perhaps overjoyed was the wrong term, but I think Chicago profits from this offer sheet. I grant you that Hjalmarsson is a solid player, but I consider a 1st and 3rd (and obviously $3.5M) an overpayment, especially with the depth on D in Chicago. But that's just my humble opinion. Shrewd move by SJ for sure, but I get the impression that Chicago purposefully left this possibility open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Perhaps overjoyed was the wrong term, but I think Chicago profits from this offer sheet. I grant you that Hjalmarsson is a solid player, but I consider a 1st and 3rd (and obviously $3.5M) an overpayment, especially with the depth on D in Chicago. But that's just my humble opinion. Shrewd move by SJ for sure, but I get the impression that Chicago purposefully left this possibility open. I'm just going by the reaction I'm seeing from both sides. I haven't seen a single happy (or totally indifferent) Hawks fan or a single pissed Sharks fan. I think if Chicago can open up the cap space, they would match the offer. But they can't.... No repeat from Chicago this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Hjalmarsson will probably be better than Campbell within a year or two. Or he could be their Andrej Mezaros... looks good in the system, take him out of it and he's really exposed. If the choice is him or Niemi, you take Hjalmarsson any day of the week. With all the people Chicago has willingly traded, it's shocking that Niemi remains, really, considering he had little impact on the team's success at all. If Niemi signs for $1.5m-$2m, then fine, keep him. What Chicago depth on D? They've already dealt Sopel, they let Boynton walk, they didn't qualify Hendry, and they signed Jassen Cullimore and John Scott for minimum wage deals. They need a #4... everybody needs 4 guys, no matter how good the top two are. Go look at the UFA pile and find a top 4 guy on the list: they're all gone. Every one of them. The Hawks also have to find out how much extra they're going to have to pay Seabrook in a year. That huge deal for Campbell to play on their second pair is really coming into play now. Campbell is actually excellent in that role, BTW, but he's an overpayment of at least $2.2m. Remember, it's San Jose's #1 pick: it'll almost certainly be 25th to 30th. With luck, they'll get another Hjalmarsson in 5 years. That doesn't do the Hawks a lot of good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakiqc Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Apparently the Hawks are going to match the offer. I don't get this. If they really wanted to keep him, why didn't they sign him before RFA season? They were already in a mess, now with this deal... http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327374 wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Apparently the Hawks are going to match the offer. I don't get this. If they really wanted to keep him, why didn't they sign him before RFA season? They were already in a mess, now with this deal... http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327374 wow It takes 2 to tango. Hjalmarsson's agent would've known this deal was on the table possibly before July 1 (since non arbitration RFA's can negotiate as of I believe June 28...or 29), so why take less? Hjalmarsson's getting paid; I'm sure he's happy the Hawks are matching since he gets to stay. He gets his cake and eats it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Anyway, Chicago Blackhawks = one of the worst management of this league. I have 0 respect for teams like Pittsburgh and Chicago who lost their fan base (and almost their franchise) and who now are powerhouses cuz they sucked for 3-4-5 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenadian Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 (edited) Chicago's going to match it....... who else is on their way out of town then.................... Edited July 12, 2010 by kenadian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Anyway, Chicago Blackhawks = one of the worst management of this league. I have 0 respect for teams like Pittsburgh and Chicago who lost their fan base (and almost their franchise) and who now are powerhouses cuz they sucked for 3-4-5 years. To be fair, the ownership in Chicago pre-2007 was the reason they lost their fan base. Rocky Wirtz's crew shouldn't be saddled with his dad's sins. Let's just say the Chicago Blackhawks would not be the Stanley Cup Champions flush with money if Dollar Bill was still alive. And Pittsburgh literally was broke. It was the only option they really had. Chicago's going to match it....... who else is on their way out of town then.................... Niemi. They'll walk at arbitration if he gets anything above $2m. They need a $1.5m goalie (or less). Theo might have work next year as a result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Niemi. They'll walk at arbitration if he gets anything above $2m. They need a $1.5m goalie (or less). Theo might have work next year as a result. Patrick Sharp likely as well; they're right against the cap with 15 players signed. Factor in a $1.5 M goalie (and Huet banished to the AHL/KHL via loan) plus a new backup and there's still half a dozen guys to sign, not all will take the minimum. With Philly soon to move Gagne for cap savings and Chicago to move someone, those who have some cap space may get some decent bargains in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Patrick Sharp likely as well; they're right against the cap with 15 players signed. Factor in a $1.5 M goalie (and Huet banished to the AHL/KHL via loan) plus a new backup and there's still half a dozen guys to sign, not all will take the minimum. With Philly soon to move Gagne for cap savings and Chicago to move someone, those who have some cap space may get some decent bargains in the near future. They won't trade Patrick Sharp, he's actually on a value contract and they need guys like him who get paid less than what they're worth (to make up for the Campbell's of the world). Think of it this way: they face a $4.1m cap penalty this year. That means in 2010-11, they suddenly have $4.1m in cap space they didn't have before. That's $0.2m more money than Sharp's cap hit. So he fits in with the team's pay structure going forward. I just plugged a roster where they re-signed Nick Boynton for $600k, signed Skille for $.75m, had Beach on the team and Bickell at his qualifying offer of $.55m, Jake Dowell as the 13th forward and Turco at $1.5m (Crawford backup at $.8m). It was over the cap by a little more than $332k. Put Beach in the minors and replace him with someone like Steve Bégin and you have a 22 man roster that's under the cap. You probably would want a guy like Beach on the roster because he has a decent amount of bonus coushin to work with in short term injury situations, though. Stalberg is the only other bonus coushin player on this team... though maybe Jeremy Morin isn't far away, who knows. Of course, the other plus to having Beach on the roster is maybe he'll put one of his teammates on the LTIR at the right time of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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