With a surprising turn of events on Wednesday evening, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman started off by reporting that the Vegas Golden Knight had sudden entered the Noah Hanifin sweepstakes, hoping to acquire the Calgary Flames defenseman ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Then, Flames insider Ryan Leslie confirmed the chatter with the report that Hanifin is indeed heading to Vegas in what can only be a monster trade. Friedman broke the news on live television.
While the Golden Knights have recently acquired forward Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals, and are said to be looking for additional help up front, they managed to get the most coveted blue liner off the trade market. Probably all thanks to captain Mark Stone currently sidelined and placed on the team’s long-term injured reserve (LTIR), giving the Golden Knights over $7.3 million in cap flexibility before they started making moves.
Hanifin was said to be somewhat interested in joining the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa had been reported as the preferred destination for Hanifin, with several other clubs interested in the defenseman, including the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings on top of the Lightning. The Knights come out on top.
Vegas is also believed to be in the mix to acquire Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jake Guentzel, who has also been linked to the Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. Both Western rivals Colorado Avalanche and Oilers have been quite active on Wednesday, with the latter acquiring centre Adam Henrique and forward Sam Carrick, while the Avs went big and acquired defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers and star forward Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres.
Recommended articles:
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- Teams on Noah Hanifin’s no-trade list revealed!
