As the Calgary Flames and their fans held on to hope that a playoff push was possible, not even a five-game winning streak could pull them any closer to the red-hot Nashville Predators. And, with a number of key, expiring contracts on the roster, it was always going to be tough for GM Craig Conroy to push through with this group until the end of the season.
After Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm and Chris Tanev were all traded away, Noah Hanifin was the latest cornerstone headed out of Cowtown. A disappointing end where at the start of the season a contract extension was plausible, Hanifin didn’t end up in Tampa Bay or Florida as many rumours suggested, but rather a Vegas Golden Knights team that gained cap space late with Mark Stone going on LTIR until the end of the season.
This was Vegas’ second big move in as many days after picking up Anthony Mantha Tuesday night, and it comes after injured defenceman Alec Martinez was put on injured reserve. Never afraid to take a big swing, and always creative in how to do it, the Golden Knights somehow acquired the top defenceman on this year’s market and will add him to a blue line group many already regarded as the best in the NHL. And though a contract extension was not part of this deal, the Golden Knights could still get one done with Hanifin, considering the cap will rise by over $4 million next season and Martinez is a pending UFA who could walk.
But, for now, this move was made with eyes on defending their Stanley Cup in 2024.
In return, Calgary acquires 26-year-old Daniil Miromanov, who has just 29 games of NHL experience, as well as conditional first- and third-round picks. The 2025 third-round pick Calgary got will upgrade to a second-rounder if Vegas wins a single round this post-season. But interestingly the conditions on the 2025 first-rounder keep Vegas in control of it for another three days — if the Golden Knights find another trade partner between now and the weekend who wants that first-round pick, Calgary will instead get Vegas’ 2026 first.
And so here’s Vegas’ situation now: With Calgary retaining 50 per cent of Hanifin’s expiring contract, and the Philadelphia Flyers picking up a 2024 fifth-rounder to retain another 25 per cent, the Golden Knights are only on the hook for $1.237 million of Hanifin’s AAV. That means Vegas still has over $3 million in deadline day cap space to work with and is still able to trade that 2025 first-round pick, which means they could still go big game hunting if retention is involved.
Jake Guentzel, anyone? Fifty per cent of his cap hit would be $3 million…
But before we get too carried away with what Vegas could still do, we turn to our scout Jason Bukala for his insights into the players involved in Wednesday’s Vegas-Calgary trade.
SCOUT’S ANALYSIS
Hanifin to Vegas is a massive coup for the Golden Knights. The defending Stanley Cup champions add a first pairing defenceman who can be deployed in all situations. I’m envisioning a top pairing of Hanifin and Alex Pietrangelo in Vegas.
Here’s my latest report on Hanifin:
As far as the return goes for Calgary, the player coming north in the transaction is defenceman Daniil Miromanov.
Miromanov is a well travelled, 26-year-old defenceman who has had several stops at different levels over his young career. He’s a project defensively and has challenges defending with detail when he gets NHL games. But he’s a very good skater on straight lines and has shown he can play a big role on the power play at the minor league level.
I’m concerned he’s closer to his finished product due to his age. Time will tell.
After this trade, the Flames draft capital increased to the following:
Calgary has a nice opportunity ahead of them to stock up on prospects in the next three draft cycles.
