NHL Trade Buzz: Hanifin’s future with Flames uncertain after Tanev deal

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are eight days remaining until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET on March 8). Here’s a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

Calgary Flames

Inquiring minds want to know if the Flames will now be aggressive in finding a trade partner for defenseman Noah Hanifin after trading defenseman Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.

“Right now, we just worked through this and we’re just going to kind of work our way along the path here,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy told NHL.com. “We’ve got three more games before (March 8), and I’ll just continue to work the phones and try to find the best deal I can for the Calgary Flames.”

Hanifin, like Tanev, can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. His name has been mentioned in several trade reports during the week. The 27-year-old is in the final season of a six-year, $29.7 million contract ($4.95 million average annual value) he signed with the Flames on Aug. 30, 2018. He has 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games and is averaging 23:44 of ice time per game.

Hanifin has a modified no-trade clause in his contract and can submit an eight-team no-trade list, which somewhat limits where the Flames are able to deal him.

“If you’re looking to add a left-handed defenseman, Hanifin would be at the top of your list,” NHL analyst Bruce Boudreau told NHL Network Radio on Thursday. “He’s a great-skating defenseman who has finally found some offensive upside. He’s always been known as a good defender but now he’s really added to offensive part to his game.”

The Flames (29-25-5) have won four in a row and trail the Nashville Predators by five points for the second wild card from the Western Conference with one game in hand.

New Jersey Devils

Goalie Nico Daws could make his ninth start in the past 10 games when the Devils visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (10 p.m. ET; MSGSN, BSW, SN, TVAS).

The Devils (30-25-4) are five points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and reports continue to heat up about their desire to possibly acquire a goalie before the Deadline.  

Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames has been mentioned most often since the 34-year-old can become an unrestricted free agent after the 2025-26 season. He has two years remaining on his contract ($6 million average annual value).

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said recently on “The Jeff Marek Show” that a potential trade between the Devils and Flames may hinge on cost of retention.

“I think Calgary is asking for a higher price and I think that’s where the challenge is,” Friedman said. “The Devils, for a long time, kind of had the hammer and can say we don’t believe we want to pay a ton for goaltending. New Jersey is pretty smart with the way they use analytics, and a lot of the very analytically inclined-thinking teams don’t believe you should pay a lot for goaltending.

“My line is, you don’t think you should pay a lot for it until you absolutely need it. Well, the Devils are in that space.”

Daws has started most games for the Devils since Vitek Vanecek was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 10 with a lower-body injury. Vanecek has been skating and working out in New Jersey for the past week and is not expected to be in the lineup on Friday. Coach Lindy Ruff did say that the 28-year-old could join the team at some point on their three-game California road trip that concludes at the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Elvis Merzlikins, who went public with a trade request Jan. 15, made 26 saves in his second straight start for the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, a 4-1 loss at the New York Rangers.

Merzlikins said that he, his agent and the Blue Jackets agreed that a “new scenario” was needed. The 29-year-old goalie hasn’t been happy playing a part of a three-goalie rotation with Daniil Tarasov and Spencer Martin.

It remains unclear if the Blue Jackets are still willing to field trade offers for Merzlikins this season, particularly after they fired general manager Jarmo Kekalainen on Feb. 15.

Merzlikins’ five-year, $27 million contract ($5.4 million annual average value) runs through the 2026-27 season. He’s 11-13-7 with a 3.25 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and one shutout in 34 games (33 starts) after going 7-18-2 with a 4.23 GAA and .876 save percentage in 30 games (27 starts) last season.

Columbus (19-29-10) is last in the Eastern Conference. It last qualified for the playoffs in 2019-20.

NHL.com independent correspondent Aaron Vickers contributed to this report