Hjalmarsson signs offer sheet with San Jose

Now this Blackhawks offseason is starting to frustrate me.

I uderstood the loss of Dustin Byfuglien and also accepted Kris Versteeg being dealt. The loss of Andrew Ladd both surprised and upset me a bit, but I said it would be worth it if it allowed the Hawks to hold onto both Antti Niemi and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Now it turns out that they might lose Hjalmarsson, a restricted free agent who signed a four-year, $14 million offer sheet with the rival San Jose Sharks.

What the offer sheet means is that the Hawks have seven days to match the offer and prevent Hjalmarsson from going to San Jose or let him go and receive first- and third-round picks in the 2011 entry draft. It's an awfully steep price to pay for a guy who won't even crack the Hawks' top defensive pairing, especially given what they're already paying Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. I don't know if it's worth it, but I do know that losing Hjalmarsson would really hurt.

Aside from some tough stretches in the Stanley Cup Final at Philadelphia, the 23-year-old Hjalmarsson showed tons of promise during the 2009-10 season. He was a plus-9 during the playoffs, registering a goal and seven assists. During the regular season, he had two goals and 15 assits and rated a plus-9. The potential for a lot more growth is there. Most importantly than those statistics, Hjalmarsson is someone coach Joel Quenneville trusts on a defense that already has to replace Brent Sopel.

Lose Hjalmarsson, and Quenneville is looking at newcomers like John Scott and Ivan Vishnevskiy or prospects to fill in behind Keith and Seabrook on defense. Yikes. I sure hope Stan Bowman finds a way to keep Hjalmarsson and Niemi with the room that's been created under the salary cap, but the Sharks might have offered Hjalmarsson too much.