June 30: Hjalmarsson will ink a two-year deal worth a total of $10MM, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).
June 23: The Arizona Coyotes have reportedly reached an extension agreement with veteran defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, which can’t be signed until July 1, according to AZ Sports Craig Morgan. No terms have been announced yet.
The 31-year-old blueliner was brought in last season to provide a veteran presence to Arizona’s defensive core, but most especially to guide countrymate Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who at the time was considered a question as to whether he wanted to stay in Arizona. However, now that Ekman-Larsson has verbally agreed to an extension, the team didn’t take long to lock up Hjalmarsson.
The team displayed interest back in March to bring back Hjalmarsson, who is in the final year of a five-year, $20.5MM deal he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 at $4.1MM per year. After being traded last offseason to Arizona for Connor Murphy and prospect Laurent Dauphin, the stay-at-home defenseman struggled with injuries and played in just 48 games, putting up nine points. However, that was evidently enough for the team to extend him for more years beyond next season.
What was with that Pacioretty to Sharks page that was up for a minute
The entire Max to SJ thing was blown way out of proportion based on a single tweet from an unverified Twitter account that was picked up by multiple outlets(NHL Network passed it along during their draft coverage). It was quickly proven false by Elliotte Friedman, Chris Johnston, Bob Mackenzie and Pierre LeBrun. I’m assuming PHR took it down because it was a false report.