The Vegas Golden Knights are pushing all of their chips into the middle to try and win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
After swinging a deal for Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha on Tuesday night, Vegas has reached an agreement with the Calgary Flames to acquire defenseman Noah Hanifin.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman broke the news live on TNT during the pregame show for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game against the Buffalo Sabres.
ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN JUST BROKE HANIFIN TO VEGAS LIVE ON AIR 😱 pic.twitter.com/05Ig1U8K2l
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 6, 2024
The Flames initiated a retooling process of sorts when they dealt Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks and Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars earlier this season. Noah Hanifin was considered the best available piece left on their roster and is now headed to Vegas.
Friedman adds that Calgary will get defenseman Daniil Miromanov, a first-round pick, and a conditional third-round pick in return.
Hanifin has scored a career-high 11 goals this season and has 35 total points through 61 games. The big, left-handed shooting defender had plenty of teams rumored to be interested in his services, including the Capitals whom Friedman said kicked the tires on a potential deal.
The 27-year-old rearguard is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season so interested parties may have another chance at bringing him in if Vegas does not sign him to an extension. Friedman reports there is no extension to be announced as part of the trade.
Vegas has the cap space to make this move and the move to get Mantha as they have both Mark Stone’s $9.5 million cap hit and Robin Lehner’s $5 million cap hit on long-term injured reserve.
