Flames will soon focus on Hanifin and Tanev extensions: report

While all the talk as of late has focused on Elias Lindholm, the Calgary Flames have a few other contract extensions they may look to get done first.

Speaking on his most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman reiterated once again that there hasn’t been a ton of progress toward an extension for Lindholm. While General Manager Craig Conroy would love to get the 28-year-old locked up, he may soon change his focus towards two other players in the final year of their contracts in Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

“What I do believe is that the Flames have started to look at Tanev and Hanifin,” Friedman said. “They’ve got [Mikael] Backlund done. If they can’t get Lindholm done in the short term, I think they’re going to look at Tanev and Hanifin and see if they can do something there.”

The optimism regarding a Hanifin extension has increased in a major way over the last month. All offseason it was believed that the 26-year-old had informed management he was not interested in re-signing and planned to hit the free-agent market next summer. However, it seems that his thoughts have changed, as he said early in training camp that he was more than willing to get something done.

As for Tanev, there hasn’t been much chatter on him one way or the other. The 33-year-old remains a very reliable top-four defenceman, but has had issues staying healthy throughout his career. While keeping him around past this season would make the Flames a better team, Conroy will have to be careful regarding the term of this potential contract.

Whether it’s the firing of Darryl Sutter or perhaps just being able to get away from the rink in the offseason, this Flames team seems much more up in spirits than they were to end the 2022-23 campaign. All of a sudden, a team that many felt may be forced into a rebuild is instead working out extensions with several players in hopes of becoming a contender.

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