The Calgary Flames have made yet another move in their busy venture to re-tool, shipping star defenseman Noah Hanifin off to the Vegas Golden Knights in return for a first-round pick, a conditional third-round pick, and prospect Daniil Miromanov. After trading first-line center Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks and top-four defenseman Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars, it was apparent that GM Craig Conroy and the Flames were clamoring to change things up significantly.
Hanifin, 27, is in the last year of his six-year contract that he signed back in 2018. He might not be a rental, either, as it’s been reported that a contract extension could be in the works. Calgary is retaining 50% of the money he is owed this season, and an additional 25% is being retained by the Philadephia Flyers. The Flyers receive a fourth-round pick for the retention.
Golden Knights Drastically Improve Blue Line
The Golden Knights know what they’re getting with Hanifin — an elite, two-way defenseman capable of munching heavy minutes and contributing to both special teams units with style. He’s an incredibly smooth skater, using his speed and pristine edgework to dance around in the neutral and offensive zones. He should be a staple on both the penalty kill and power play for the Golden Knights as well.
In 61 games this season, Hanifin has totaled 11 goals and 35 points, 11 of which came via the power play. His underlying statistics are expectedly strong, with the blueliner sporting an expected goals share (xGF%) of 50.88% this season while having surpassed the 55% mark in both of the previous two campaigns. He’s one of the best transition defensemen in the entire NHL and is both an excellent passer and finisher, though the latter of the two is admittedly inflated this year in comparison to his career.
Related: 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
The Hanifin trade is par for the course with Vegas, who has unapologetically made some huge deadline moves in previous years. They’ve been excellent at recognizing how and when to go for it, and with Mark Stone out for the rest of the season, they knew they could (and should) weaponize the cap that was freed up. At 75% retention, Hanifin comes in with a cap hit of just $1.2375 million, so it’s likely that the Golden Knights aren’t done.
Calgary Adds More to Rebuild
The Flames have been incredibly active this year, seemingly tearing it down and looking to the future. They’ve already racked up on picks, prospects, and NHL-ready talent so far, adding a first-round pick, second-round pick, third-round pick, fourth-round pick, prospects Hunter Brzustewicz, Artem Grushnikov, and Joni Jurmo, and Andrei Kuzmenko for Lindholm and Tanev alone. Adding two more picks and another prospect is just the icing on the cake for Conroy. He’s done an excellent job with asset management considering that all the players he’s dealt thus far have been rentals that probably wouldn’t have re-signed in Calgary after this season.
The Flames still have some desirable assets that they could move before the trade deadline ends, including goaltender Jacob Markstrom and defenseman Oliver Kylington. It’ll be interesting to see how the next couple of days play out for them.
