Reports of a huge contract extension for Hanifin in Vegas

According to a report from ESPN NHL insider Kevin Weekes, the Vegas Golden Knights are expected to sign recently acquired defenseman Noah Hanifin to a whopping eight year contract worth $7 million annually.

From Weekes:

Read below for our earlier report of the Hanifin trade, published yesterday evening.

Earlier today, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames.

It took some time to announce the full details of the transaction, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has just reported that, thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers acting as a third-party broker in a double salary retention, Hanifin lands in Vegas at 25% cap hit of $1,237,500, along with the signing rights to Mikhail Vorobyov.

This is what going back to Calgary: young defenseman Daniil Miromanov, a conditional first round pick and a contentional third that becomes a second if Vegas wins a round in the postseason. The Flyers are getting 2024 5th round pick from Vegas for their role in the salary retention. The condition on the first round pick is right now, it is the 2025 first rounder UNLESS Vegas trades it this deadline, then 2026.

If the math is right that leaves Vegas with roughly $3 million in usable cap space with less than two days to go prior to the deadline.

In Miromanov, the Flames are getting a 26-year-old Russian blue liner, who went undrafted, but has worked his way through the ECHL, KHL and AHL. The right-handed defenseman, who stands at 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, had an impressive 11 goals and 40 points in 53 games two years ago. He has 29 games of NHL experience and will be a restricted free agent this summer. There is also speculation that Miromanov will ink an extension in Calgary. 

Hanifin was considered the most coveted blue liner on the market in the lead-up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline. He spent the past six seasons with the Flames, posting a total of 42 goals, 149 assists and a plus-46 rating. He is quite the acquisitions for a busy Vegas crew that has also acquired forward Anthony Mantha of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, and are reportedly in the mix to land Pittsburgh Penguins star winger Jake Guentzel.

And look at this: 

On top of that, it is VERY interesting that the Golden Knights have stipulated that the first round pick could slide to 2026: as Frank Seravalli points out, Vegas wants full optionality to also trade 2024 and 2025 1st round picks at this deadline.

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