Looks like one Hawk is staying in Chicago.
The San Jose Sharks made an offer to restricted free agent Niklas Hjalmarsson that the Chicago Blackhawks decided to match. Hjalmarsson will remain with the Hawks after they matched the 4-year $14 million contract the Sharks offered.
The deal pays Hjalmarsson $3.5 million per year, way up from the $660,000 he earned last year.
“He does everything you look for in a defenseman,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “You can never have enough defensemen around, and having a predictable defenseman in this day and age is hard to find. It fills that need and void that possibly could have been there.”
Matching the offer to Hjalmarsson puts the Hawks right back against the cap with goalie Antti Niemi still left to re-sign.
