Friedman: Noah Hanifin has told Calgary Flames he’d like to go to United States
By Ryan Pike
10 months agoThe Calgary Flames continue to navigate an off-season dominated with discussions with their 2024 pending free agent class. One of their more prominent potential 2024 free agents is blueliner Noah Hanifin. Providing some context to chatter that Hanifin is on the trade block, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned on Friday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek that Hanifin has told the Flames that he’d like to return to the United States.
Here’s Friedman:
“Hanifin has indicated he would like to go back to the United States. Look, he’s a year away from unrestricted free agency, and when you become a UFA you’ve earned the right to make your call. I’ve got no problem with that. And Hanifin had let them know that that was the way he was going, so they knew about that.”
Later in the discussion, Friedman added that he didn’t think it was anything negative from Hanifin or anything of that nature, but merely that he’s an American guy – he’s from Boston – and would prefer to go back to the United States.
Hanifin’s been with the Flames, and in Canada, since being acquired by the club at the 2018 NHL Draft (alongside Elias Lindholm) in a trade with Carolina. In five seasons with the Flames, Hanifin’s been a fixture on the top two defensive pairings and on both sides of special teams. He’s entering the final year of a six-year deal that carries a $4.95 million cap hit.
He’s good. He’s relatively young. He’s got a ton of NHL games under his belt relative to his age. And he’s a skilled, balanced blueliner that can play in any game situation. If he’s truly on the trade market – and all signs indicate that he is – he could land the Flames quite a return.
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