The Chicago Blackhawks history of offer sheets in the salary cap era

The Chicago Blackhawks might not have been involved with an offer sheet this summer, but with the recent offer sheet and signing of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway in St. Louis, there is no better time to look to the past.

The Chicago Blackhawks history of offer sheets in the salary cap era.

Chicago has not yet dealt with an offer sheet with Kyle Davidson as general manager. Still, it wasn’t too long ago that the organization last dealt with one.

On July 9, 2010, Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson signed a four-year $14 million offer sheet with the San Jose Sharks. Then general manager Stan Bowman decided to match the offer keeping Hjalmarsson in Chicago with a cap hit of $3.5 million.

The Blackhawks had just won the Stanley Cup. Matching the offer sheet kept Hjalmarsson in Chicago on a contract he would win the Stanley Cup with in 2013. Hjalmarsson was in the first year of a five-year $20.5 million contract when the Blackhawks won again in 2015. Bowman matching this offer sheet is one of the great moves he made following the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup to extend the championship window.

Like most offer sheets, matching often comes with a price. For the Blackhawks, keeping Hjalmarsson subsequently cost the team Antti Niemi. Chicago could not afford to keep both Hjalmarsson and the young goalie hot off of a Stanley Cup victory.

Niemi signed with the Sharks and over the course of the next few seasons was a reliable goalie for San Jose. The Hawks did have Corey Crawford in their farm system at the time, so things did work out in the end.

Stan Bowman involved with another offer sheet.

This past August, Bowman was involved with another offer sheet now as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. As GM of the Oilers, Bowman declined to match a pair of offer sheets for Broberg, 23, and Holloway, 22.

The Oilers are up against the salary cap and not matching these deals might have impacted how much the team could give Leon Draisaitl in an extension. The Oilers received a 2025 second and third round pick in compensation for the players. Additionally, Edmonton added a third round pick in 2028 and defenseman Paul Fischer.

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