Friedman: Calgary Flames and Noah Hanifin ‘are talking again’
By Ryan Pike
6 months agoFriends, there’s just over two months remaining until the 2024 trade deadline, and teams are trying to figuring out precisely where they stand – not only in the standings, but with their potential unrestricted free agents. On Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had an update about the Calgary Flames and Noah Hanifin: they’re talking again.
Here’s Friedman:
“Meanwhile, Calgary: You’ll remember earlier in the year, Noah Hanifin basically had a verbal extension done with the Calgary Flames. And then it went away, kind of changed his mind. I think the two of them are talking again. I don’t know where this is going to go, Ron, but I don’t think it’s out of the possibility… I thought earlier in the year there was no way they were going to pick this back up again, he wasn’t going to stay. I don’t think it’s out of the question, but I just wouldn’t want to put odds on it.”
Hanifin’s in the final year of a deal that pays him a paltry $4.95 million against the salary cap. He turns 27 on Jan. 25 and has oodles of experience, which would make him both (a) the type of player the Flames would probably like to keep at the right price and (b) the type of player an acquiring club would probably like to have extension talks with before making a trade. He might not be an elite-level defender or a Norris contender, but reliable, versatile defenders like Noah Hanifin don’t grow on trees.
As Friedman alluded to, Hanifin was nearly locked down to a long-term deal with the Flames earlier in the season – Pierre LeBrun mentioned the reported contract was “close to $60 million” – but things didn’t get locked down. This is entirely my speculation here: if you’re the Flames, you either want to lock down Hanifin or at least know what his contract desires would be in the event you get into extensive trade talks with another team, as Hanifin with a contract extension would net the Flames more in a trade than Hanifin as a rental.
All we know for now is they’re talking again. What that means will become clearer between now and the March 8 trade deadline.
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