After suffering a matinee loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Calgary Flames were right back in the news on Saturday night.
On Saturday’s edition of Headlines with Elliotte Friedman, the Hockey Night in Canada reporter confirmed some reports that Noah Hanifin and the team had re-engaged in contract extension discussions.
Deal or No Deal
Hanifin, one of the Flames’ many pending UFAs, was deep in contract talks earlier in the season until the Flames big losing streak. Although a contract was very close to being done, Hanifin had a change of heart.
That heart appears to have potentially changed again. Here was Friedman’s full report:
“Remember early in the year Noah Hanifin basically had a verbal extension done with the Calgary Flames, then it went away and he kind of changed his mind. Well, I think the two of them are talking again, I don’t know where this is going to go Ron, but I don’t think it’s out of the possibility…I thought earlier in the year there was no way they were going to pick this back up again he wasn’t going to stay…I don’t think it’s out of the question but I wouldn’t want to put odds on it.”
– Elliotte Friedman
Now this isn’t signaling that a deal is done, rather Friedman does a lot to both confirm and deny the possibility of a contract getting done. Of course with Eric Francis’ report yesterday that also alluded to potentially re-engaging in contract talks, this sure does smell of something starting to materialize.
Depending on what side of the Flames coin you are on you either love this news or despise it. This is nothing really on Hanifin as a player, who at a young age has established himself as a dependable top-four defenseman, but it’s more about the direction of the franchise.
The team has a prime opportunity for a key refresh, or rebuild, by capitalizing on all of their free agents to obtain young players and prospects. Instead, the Flames appear to be right back in “competing, but just not quite good enough yet”. It’s hard to replace a player like Hanifin in the lineup moving forward, but he is also one of the players that could fetch the most on the market.
Of all of the pending UFAs, Hanifin is probably at the top of the list for players many would be ok with sticking around, but at what cost? That all being said, if Friedman is reporting that talks have started again then things are potentially trending in that direction. If the team re-signs Hanifin but trades the other UFA players, then most would probably be ok with that outcome.
Maybe.
