A collective sigh of relief was released today as the Chicago Blackhawks matched the offer sheet given to Niklas Hjalmarsson two days ago. The offer sheet was for a 4-year deal worth $14 million.
That is a $3.5 million cap hit, which puts the return of Antti Niemi in jeopardy.
Time to go back into a state of anxiety. Not so fast.
In the NHL, a solid defensive corps is the backbone that keeps a goaltender safe from a barrage of shots. Adding Hammer helps restore a top-4 that few teams in the NHL can compare to. Hjalmarsson has an uncanny knack to block shots, take players off the puck, and hammer the puck on goal. Losing him would be a much larger loss than the potential subtraction of cult hero Antti Niemi.
Here is the catch. Niemi has not seen a whole lot of interest, but enough to warrant concern of him not returning. Reports have the Blackhawks negotiating with Niemi as we speak, but who knows if the hockey brass in Chicago can convince him of taking less now for the possible pay increase in the future.
Let us all hope that is a resounding yes.
What a Niemi signing would also cause is the continued rumor of a trade including Patrick Sharp, or the possibility of losing Brent Seabrook to free agency next year.
All of that is out of our hands and moves potentially down the road. Until then, celebrate the return of the best Swedish import to Chicago since IKEA.
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