Folks, we’re just over two weeks away from the NHL’s 2023-24 trade deadline. Over at Sportsnet, our pal Elliotte Friedman unveiled his latest edition of his 32 Thoughts column on Wednesday evening and, as you might expect, there’s some Calgary Flames content in there.
Along with some superb use of vocabulary by Friedman.
Here’s Friedman (with our notes added):
9. The Flames Foundation raised $500,000 at its annual celebrity poker tournament on Tuesday night, as this maelstrom of deadline craziness continues. Tight cap situations across the league don’t help, as interested parties benefit salary-wise by waiting as long as possible to make their move. One thing that’s definitely happened: Calgary and the respective agents are trying to ease the noise by restricting information. Good for them, bad for us. So there’s no official confirmation Noah Hanifin is going to the market, but that’s where this is headed.
There’s been a lot of speculation about the Lightning — which, on paper, makes a lot of sense — but look at the trade the Flames made for Elias Lindholm. Can the Lightning put together a similar package, knowing there will be competition? It’s hard to see. Toronto made a pitch, and would want to know the possibility of signing him, but Hanifin appears headed for the US on a long-term basis. Teams want to know where he’s willing to sign.
Maelstrom? That’s some excellent wording.
Anyways, as the fine folks at Cap Friendly and Puckpedia can illustrate with their cap projections, salary cap space for teams that aren’t using LTIR get pro-rated. (If you save money and there are fewer days left in the season, that money can be stretched further.) And so teams are likely waiting and seeing what happens cap-wise before making their most hefty offers for potential trade deadline acquisitions.
The “Noah Hanifin is headed back to the United States” narrative has been around since the summer and has really bubbled up again lately, with folks like Friedman, Frank Seravalli, Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun mentioning it in light of the reports that Hanifin’s going to test the market. Anaheim got oodles for Hampus Lindholm two years ago because they thought they could sign him to an extension. If I’m an acquiring team, I would shell out more for a Hanifin I think I can extend rather than one that’s bolting out the door on July 1.
10. With Chris Tanev, the Flames continue to hold and see if a first-rounder (or something they consider comparable) becomes available. Dallas is very much into this, although some teams suspect they like Hanifin, too. Others: Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver. Colorado’s been in and out, as have others.
The original reported asking price for Chris Tanev’s services (per Frank Seravalli and several other insiders) was a second-round pick. All indications are that several teams are willing to part with such an asset for Tanev. This response from the marketplace was seemingly enthusiastic enough that the Flames are now seeing if they could squeeze a little bit more out of this transaction.
For the curious, Dallas and Edmonton have 2024 second-rounders (while Vancouver, Toronto and Colorado do not), while Dallas, Edmonton, Toronto and Colorado all have 2024 first-rounders.
The trade deadline is 1 p.m. MT on Friday, March 8.
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