"The Sharks have signed Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet that would pay the 23-year-old restricted free agent $14 million over the next four seasons.

The Blackhawks, who are still having a tough time fitting next year's payroll under the NHL salary cap of $59.4 million, have one week to match that offer or allow him go to San Jose for the Sharks' first- and third-round pick in the 2011 draft, compensation established in the league's collective bargaining agreement.

"We like this player and feel he would fit now and in the future," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. "He's a Top Three defenseman on a team that just won the Stanley Cup."

The Sharks have had their eye on Hjalmarsson for a while, but got a close look at him during the Western Conference finals.

Hjalmarsson, 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, has played in 111 NHL games over the past three seasons — 77 in 2009-2010 when he registered two goals and 15 assists.

He's considered a hybrid — capable of moving the puck up the ice while also playing a physical style in his own end and definitely would be penciled in as Top Four material on the Sharks."