Noah Hanifin could be the first domino to fall in Calgary.
There are those who believe the Calgary Flames could be as busy as the Winnipeg Jets this summer.
We are rapidly approaching the National Hockey League Entry Draft which will take place at the end of this month and that is a time of year in which teams across the league can make significant changes as they move towards the future.
One of the team's that may not have been on everyone's radar in this regard just yet, but very likely will be now, are the Calgary Flames. The Flames just barely failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs after making major changes to their organization prior to the start of the season, and on Saturday night NHL insider Elliotte Friedman indicated that more big changes could be on the horizon.
"I think one of the names you're going to start to hear here a bit is Noah Hanifin from Calgary," said Friedman during the second intermission of Game 4 on Saturday night. "He's got one more year like a lot of the Calgary players do and I think team's have begun to ask the Flames 'What exactly are you thinking about here... what's the future?'"
In fact Friedman indicated his belief that the Flames could be among the most active teams this summer, going so far as to compare them to the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets of course are expected to trade star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, star forward Mark Scheifele, and possibly even forward Kyle Connor as well.
"A lot of us are talking about Winnipeg right now, and for good reason, but low key I think Calgary could be just as interesting a team as Winnipeg over the next few weeks depending on how all these players feel about their futures," added Friedman.
This is a clear indication from Friedman that he believes there could be more than a Noah Hanifin trade on the horizon, although he didn't provide any additional names. The obvious names will of course belong to players who will be entering the final year of their contract in the 2023-24 NHL season, players like Mikael Backlund, Tyler Toffoli, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and more.
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