Flames GM signs Hanifin to six-year $29.7M pact
When Brad Treliving pulled the trigger on a deal that saw defenceman Noah Hanifin join the Calgary Flames, while Dougie Hamilton was shipped out to the Carolina Hurricanes, many were wondering what Hanifin’s game was all about.
On a team as inexperienced defensively as the Hurricanes, is his game really everything it had been hyped to be?
The Calgary Flames general manager believes so and also believes the 21-year-old Boston native has an incredibly high ceiling, especially after already logging three seasons in the NHL.
After a summer of waiting, the two sides finally struck a deal Thursday that saw Hanifin ink to a six-year contract with an average annual value of US$4.95 million.
“We’re talking about a 21-yearold guy who has played three years in the NHL,” said Treliving, who checked off his final item on his to-do list. “I don’t buy into that, ‘Oh, he’s not where he should be.’ Most guys his age are learning to walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Hanifin, drafted fifth overall by the Hurricanes in 2015, has scored 18 goals and added 65 assists in 239 NHL games. Yes, the former U.S. national under-18 player has never seen a minute of big-league playoff action. But adding up all of the player’s assets — a big body (six-foot-three, 215 pounds), elite skater and competitive nature — Treliving is confident they got a smokin’ deal on Hanifin.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll look back in a really short period of time and say, ‘That’s a heckuva deal for the Flames,’ ” Treliving said. “We looked at a lot of different things, but this makes the most sense.”
That included a bridge deal that many, given Hanifin’s experience, thought would be logical.
“You look at all of the different scenarios,” Treliving said of the possibility of the dangling carrot of that type of contract.
“Certainly all sorts of different term lengths were considerations. We just felt to be able to come in at this area for this length of term, where we see the player, where we see his game going, where we think it can go to ... we felt this made the most sense.”
It was also a relief to get the deal finished before training camp, which starts in the next few weeks.
Treliving indicated he and Hanifin’s agent Pat Brisson talked “daily” and their side was sensitive to the fact Treliving had a number of time-sensitive contracts to take care of first.
“Everyone always wants these things done quickly, but some of them take little more time,” Treliving said. “Sometimes they take a little bit of time, but we’re happy with the result.”