Blackhawks to Match Offer Sheet for Niklas Hjalmarsson

Just days after the San Jose Sharks sent restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson an offer sheet for a four-year contract worth $14 million, the Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they will match the offer and retain the young Swedish defenseman. The deal will average out to $3.5 million per season. The Blackhawks had seven days to accept or decline the offer sheet. If they had declined the offer, they would have received San Jose's first and third round picks in the 2011 Entry Draft. In 77 games last season with Chicago, Hjalmarsson had two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. In what some will call a dirty move by the Sharks, the Blackhawks should have sent Hjalmarsson to arbitration to avoid having something like this happen, especially since they are operating right at the salary cap ceiling right now. In my opinion, the Blackhawks should have let Hjalmarsson go, as at this point in his career, he is not worth a first round pick even if he was traded for one. However, he does have some puckmoving skill, plays with some grit, and can play a lot of minutes, so he has the potential to develop into a solid top-four defenseman. Only time will tell if the Blackhawks made the right move on retaining Hjalmarsson.