NHL Rumors: Blackhawks shopping defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson

Two years ago the Blackhawks elected to keep Niklas Hjalmarsson when shedding salary. Now they are reportedly looking to shred his salary.

By Brian Stubits

Jun 22, 2012 at 10:20 am ET • 1 min read

Hjalmarsson has two seasons left on his contract with a $3.5 million cap hit. (Getty Images)

Go back a couple of summers after the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. They had a lot of tough decisions to make with the roster as they were in cap hell, worth it for the championship run, sure, but it meant the band had to break up.

Of the many decisions that had to be made, GM Stan Bowman elected to keep defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson around seemingly over re-signing goaltender Antti Niemi, who was due a raise. Chicago's goaltending situation hasn't been settled since -- but then again it isn't as though Niemi has been a world beater in San Jose either.

It might be two years later, but now Hjalmarsson might be on his way out of Chicago. At least the Blackhawks seem to be working on it.

League sources told the Sun-Times that the Hawks are actively shopping defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who has two years left on a four-year contract with a $3.5 million salary-cap hit.

A league source also said the Hawks are looking for takers for defenseman Steve Montador, who has three years left on a four-year deal carrying a $2.75 million cap hit.

At just 25, Hjalmarsson should generate interest, especially for teams looking for shot-blocking, stay-at-home types. The re-signing of veteran Johnny Oduya and the emergence of Nick Leddy has made Hjalmarsson — whom the Hawks chose to retain over goalie Antti Niemi two years ago — more expendable, although his defensive prowess is coveted.

Adam Jahns, Chicago Sun-Times

As Jahns mentions, the Blackhawks have a little bit of surplus now on the blue line, thus they're considering shipping out a young defenseman -- and a veteran in Montador. Add that to the salary Hjalmarsson is making and there you have some reasons why the Blackhawks would be looking at this now.

You'll remember at last year's draft the Blackhawks traded away another one of their defensemen, sending Brian Campbell to the Panthers to get free from some cap pressure. Being able to unload Hjalmarsson and Montador would be in the same vein, potentially allowing Chicago to enter some of the conversations around the bigger targets this summer, whether it be via trade or free agency.