On Monday’s episode of Barn Burner, Boomer, Pinder, and Rhett had Frank Seravalli on the show to dissect some of the complications surrounding a trade for Calgary Flames defenceman Noah Hanifin ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday.
Hanifin is one of the last dominos to fall in the list of players that first year Flames GM Craig Conroy has been tasked with getting a return for since taking over in May of 2023. The 11 goals and 24 assists so far this season for Hanifin have set him well on his way to surpassing his career-best 48 points he set with the Flames in the 2021-22 season.
As was reported on Saturday night’s Headlines on Hockey Night in Canada, Hanifin’s preferred destination is the Tampa Bay Lightning. For those keeping up with the Noah Hanifin trade saga, this piece of news should come as no surprise. However, as Frank would indicate in the segment, it might be in the best interest of the Lightning to wait until the summer if the interest from both parties is as high as reports have indicated.
“You have a team that’s likely to be a playoff team, albeit one of the wild cards, and could kind of do damage when it comes to the postseason this year. Would you really give up your top prospect and plus whatever else to get a guy that this summer on July 1 if he loves you and you love him you could get for nothing?”
If a deal doesn’t get done between now and Friday with the Lightning, Frank also believes multiple other parties would be interested in Hanifin’s services, albeit with their own set of complications.
“I think there are four to five teams that Hanifin has signalled. The two of them that are locks are Tampa and Florida. I think the others are Boston, Vegas and I was told LA… Outside of those few teams, there’s a bunch of teams that are playoff bound teams that don’t really need Hanifin and then the ones that need and want Hanifin all don’t really have the assets… This is just a real honest conversation of wrong timing, wrong teams equals who knows what we can get in return.”
While the Flames are at the back end of their selling spree, fans bite their nails at the challenges surrounding a Hanifin deal resulting in an underwhelming return. Frank encourages those who are looking at Conroy’s work to take a step back and look at the whole picture he has painted since taking over as general manager.
“Let’s consider the totality of all of this going back to last June or July. Toffoli, Zadorov, Hanifin, Tanev, and Lindholm… They’ve basically restocked an entire draft board plus have gotten some roster players in Kuzmenko, plus some decent prospects. Wait until the dust settles and I would say grade on the whole thing as opposed to just trying to isolate one deal at one moment in time.”
To listen to all of what Frank had to say, including plenty of Jacob Markstrom talk, check out Monday’s episode in full here:
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Get ready for the Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline Show, coming to you on March 8th LIVE from 11 AM to 3 PM EST!! Join Tyler Yaremchuk, Frank Seravalli and friends for 4 hours of non-stop action as they dive deep into the heart of the trade deadline. They will be breaking down every trade, discussing the impact on teams, predicting the playoff picture, and giving you the inside scoop on all the wheeling and dealing happening around the league. Tune in live on March 8th from 11 AM to 3 PM EST for the The Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline special you won’t want to miss!
