Players' camp holding up the inevitable according to insider

The first major domino in the 2023-2024 trade deadline appears to have dropped yesterday with the news of Chris Tanev being traded from the Calgary Flames to the Dallas Stars, it appears that although likely necessary for the Flames GM to make another move, specifically Noah Hanifin, that it does not appear to be imminent.

Insider Frank Servalli believes that when a Hanifin deal does get done, the return will be significantly higher than what Calgary received from Dallas in the deal that saw defenceman Chris Tanev traded to the Dallas Stars. It would be easy to criticize the team for stalling. It is believed that Hanifin and his camp are holding the Flames hostage because of the talk of where he wants to sign long-term.


It is no secret that Hanifin's wish is to leave Canada and play somewhere down south and, while teams like Tampa and Florida appear to be the frontrunners for his services, speculation is mounting that Boston, LA and Vegas amongst others he may want to sign with could still be in the running to retain his services for a large part of the remainder of his career.


What should be known and noted is that Calgary will not trade Hanifin just for the sake of trading him and that although they will do their best to accommodate his wishes, even if they do not have to, they need to make a deal that makes sense for them. As March 8th quickly approaches, we will have to see what happens with him and the rest of the league.