Niklas
Hjalmarsson says Chicago feels like home to him and his wife. It
should be for the next six years. The Chicago
Blackhawks announced Wednesday that Hjalmarsson, their
26-year-old defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup winner, agreed to a
five-year contract extension reportedly worth $4.1 million annually.
Hjalmarsson has one year left on his current contract, which carries
an annual salary-cap charge of $3.5 million.
"I'm really excited with the extension
here and I'm really looking forward to next season, and that me and
my wife get to stay in Chicago for six more years,"
Hjalmarsson said during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. "I
love the city. I love the people in Chicago. They're really friendly
and playing in the United Center in front of 23,000 people every
game, it's really inspiring. On top of that, we have a good team that
can compete for the Cup every year. I really wanted to stay in
Chicago and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to do that. To
imagine playing for a different team is tough for me because I feel
so much for the city and for the team. Yeah, maybe I could have
gotten more somewhere else, but I make a lot of money so I don't
really have to think about that too much. I'm just happy over the
situation."
Hjalmarsson could have played out the final year
of his contract and perhaps signed a more lucrative long-term
contract as an unrestricted free agent next summer, but he indicated
leaving Chicago was never under consideration. The Blackhawks picked
him in the fourth round of the 2005 NHL Draft and have used him
regularly in their top four on the blue line since the 2009-10
season. Hjalmarsson had five assists and a playoff career-best
plus-10 rating in 23 playoff games last season after he had 10 points
and a career-high plus-15 rating in 48 regular-season games. He feels
the next step in his evolution as a player is to improve his
offensive game (56 points and a plus-48 in 306 career regular-season
games), but he won't do it at the expense of what he already does
well.
"I know I'm really strong at the defensive
end," Hjalmarsson said. "I think I had a really good
year playing with Johnny [Oduya] and hopefully I can continue pretty
much what I did last year. I thought I had a really good year last
year and I don't think I have to try to be someone else or try to
force stuff that I maybe don't have. I'm going to try to build on
what I did last year and try to do it even better."
Hjalmarsson's contract extension ensures that 14
players from last season's Cup-winning roster are signed for at least
the next two seasons. Goalie Corey
Crawford signed a six-year extension worth $36 million on Monday.
Chicago general manager Stan Bowman said locking up Hjalmarsson to a
long-term extension was one of his offseason goals because he thinks
the best is still ahead for the Swedish defenseman. Bowman said
Hjalmarsson is the ideal complementary player to the offensively
skilled players Chicago has up front and on the back end because his
strong points are his ability to penalty kill, defend and block
shots.
"Part of the plan is determining which of
your players are key and critical to the success of your team and
then making sure you have them for a long time," Bowman
said. "You look at the role that Niklas has played on our
team, he's a warrior. When you have a player and he really hasn't
reached his best years yet, I think he's just coming into his prime
at this point, you want to keep someone like that," Bowman
said. "He's been improving each year and I expect he will
continue to do so. For that reason it's an easy decision to commit to
him."
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