With a new coach in place, Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy turns his attention to roster construction and some decisions the club needs to make on seven players slated to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2024. One of those magnificent seven is blueliner Noah Hanifin.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, chatting with Pat Steinberg on Sportsnet 960’s Flames Talk on Monday afternoon, there’s a sense around the league that Hanifin could be traded.
Here’s Friedman:
“As we know defensively, Provorov is off the board and Severson is off the board. So Columbus has made their moves. In terms of free agency, there’s Orlov and then we’ll see. And other than that, if you want a defenceman you’re probably going to have to trade for one.
I think the Flames are doing their due diligence now and kind of finding out where all their guys feel. The Flames have not confirmed any of this, so I’ll say that straight out, but I will say that there’s a feeling out there that Hanifin is going to be available. So I think there’s some teams out there looking for defence who are beginning to think ‘okay, what are we going to have to do to do this?'”
On Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman discussed with co-host Jeff Marek how Hanifin’s trade to Calgary has been beneficial for both player and team, and so there’s lots of interest about Hanifin around the league. Friedman stated on the podcast that he thinks the Flames can make a good trade.
Hanifin joined the Flames via a five-player trade with Carolina at the 2018 NHL Draft, alongside Elias Lindholm. He’s been a fixture in the Flames’ top two defensive pairings ever since, forming very strong tandems with both Rasmus Andersson and Chris Tanev, and playing big minutes in every game situation.
The 26-year-old Hanifin is entering the final year of a six-year contract that pays him $4.95 million against the salary cap.
