Flames have re-engaged with Hanifin contract talks: report
The Calgary Flames continue to keep everybody guessing when it comes to pending UFA defenceman Noah Hanifin.
When the season began it initially sounded like Hanifin was close to signing an extension with the Flames. However, as the team struggled out of the gate, it was reported that the 26-year-old defenceman was having second thoughts. Given that the Flames have already been burned by pending UFAs not resigning, think Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, it seemed like a trade was the inevitable conclusion.
Now, things have shifted once again it seems. New reporting by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman now has both the Flames and Hanifin back at the negotiation table.
“Noah Hanifin was basically at a verbal extension done with the Calgary Flames and then it went away, he kind of changed his mind,” said Friedman in the latest edition of Saturday Headlines. “I think the two of them are talking again, I don’t know where this is going to go… I thought earlier in the year that there was no way they were going to pick this back up again and 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.”
"I do believe the AAV for Nylander is going to be around $11.5M."
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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 7, 2024
There seems to be a growing feeling that the Flames would be losing more than they would be gaining in a potential Hanifin trade. Sportsnet’s Calgary reporter Eric Francis recently mused that the team would be trading Hanifin in the hopes that a young player develops into a similar player six years down the road.
As for what a potential contract could look like between the Hanifin and the Flames, logic would say that both the team and player will want stability on a longer-term deal. Considering Hanifin is a bonafide top pairing defenceman, it would be fair to say his cap hit should be north of $7 million as well.
The Flames shouldn’t have too much issue in making that kind of money work under the cap. The team is set to have about $31 million in cap space opening up in the offseason and the expectation is that the Flames will be trading star forward Elias Lindholm, who their other big pending UFA.
Though reports now have the two sides back at the negotiating table, this is now the third shift in the saga and one should expect more drama to unfold before everything is said and done.
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