The Calgary Flames focused all their attention on Miikka Kiprusoff and his jersey retirement. All business talks with Calgary were sure to be paused as the whole organisation put honouring their great goaltender with a ceremony he deserved through and through.
Tonight isn’t about anyone else but him and the Flames will do their best to keep it that way. However, beyond putting #34 up in the rafters, the Flames know they have a tidy bit of business they will have to tend to over the next week. The biggest one of all is what they’re going to do with Noah Hanifin.
On the latest edition of Saturday Headlines on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman shared what he knew of the Flames’ current situation with the defender.
Hanifin’s top choice appears to be Tampa Bay
The Flames look like they’ve accepted their fate and that Noah Hanifin won’t be re-signing with the team. Both the team and him are looking at places that he’d sign an extension with. This makes his potential trade not a pure rental for a Cup contender.
Friedman notes the belief is that the Tampa Bay Lightning is his number-one choice. He also noted that if it was easy to do, it’d be done already. All parties are working on this deal, but if the Flames can’t make it work with the Lightning, then we’ll have to see how things proceed.
Essentially this is as clear of a direction that they’ve gotten with Hanifin and working with a player to facilitate a trade could lead to a bigger return. Who’s to say the trade can’t be formatted as a sign-and-trade? After all, the Flames were the first team in NHL history to facilitate a sign-and-trade with Matthew Tkachuk.
Markstrom’s not happy with his treatment
Jacob Markstrom spoke up about being upset with how his trade situation has been handled. The whole trade with New Jersey was botched from start to finish and Friedman believes that this upset him. The process of asking him to potentially waive his no-movement clause, making him feel like he would be traded, all just to backtrack and keep him with the team didn’t set well with Markstrom.
On top of that, Friedman mentioned that the New Jersey Devils have identified Markstrom as their number-one target, and that if it doesn’t happen before the deadline, that they’d be prepared to wait until the offseason to revisit a trade for Markstrom.
A trade deadline to remember
The Flames aren’t in an enviable position. Between having committed players both new and old who still want to compete versus having other players wanting new starts with new teams, there’s been a big balancing act over the past couple of years.
A full rebuild may be the best thing on paper but it may break the players in the room. No retooling may keep some players happy but truly keep the Flames locked out of the playoffs for years to come. With the trade deadline less than a week away, the next several days will be pivotal for the Flames.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
