After a ton of buzz earlier in the offseason revolving around a potential Noah Hanifin trade, things have cooled off as summer has progressed. That said, the belief is that the Calgary Flames are still shopping the 26-year-old, who is believed to have told management he isn’t interested in signing an extension with the club.
Hanifin is a player every team in the NHL would love to have on their roster. When at his best, he is a top-three defenceman on any team and has one more season remaining on his contract with a cap hit of just $4.95 million. Suffice to say, general manager Craig Conroy should be able to bring back a very solid return should a trade take place.
Flames & Sabres Have Valued Pieces for One Another
While several teams have reportedly shown interest in Hanifin, one that sticks out, in particular, is the Buffalo Sabres. After over a decade of struggles, this team is on the rise, thanks to plenty of young talent. That said, they could use a top-four blueliner to really help solidify themselves as a playoff team this coming season, and Hanifin would work perfectly in that regard. Luckily for the Flames, the Sabres have plenty of young talent they may be willing to send the other way as a return.
One player that could be of high intrigue to the Flames is Peyton Krebs. The 22-year-old forward is well thought of around the league, so much so that he was a major part of the return in the Jack Eichel trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. This past season was his first as a full-time NHLer, during which he scored nine goals and 26 points in 74 games. (from ‘Eric Duhatschek ‘Alex DeBrincat’s impact, William Nylander’s future and who’ll play in net for the Devils?,’ ,The Athletic, 07/14/23).
Though Krebs has yet to pop off at the NHL level, he has proven both in the WHL and AHL why he was selected at 17th overall in the 2019 draft. He oozes skill and would help set the Flames up with even more young talent to help guide them toward the future, similar to what they did when acquiring Yegor Sharangovich from the New Jersey Devils earlier in the offseason.
Flames May Require More Than Just Krebs
While Krebs is certainly a great piece to build this trade around, Conroy is said to have a price locked in place and may require more in order to accept this deal. The Sabres do have several other young prospects and/or picks he could inquire about, but another interesting player to consider is Victor Olofsson. The 28-year-old has scored 20 or more goals in three of his four NHL seasons and is also entering the final year of his contract with a similar $4.75 million cap hit.
While Krebs would undeniably be the biggest get in this proposed deal, Olofsson would give the Flames a reliable scoring option who could play anywhere in their top nine. It would also prevent them from possibly rushing a young prospect such as Matt Coronato and instead give him some time to round out his game in the AHL. With only one season remaining on Olofsson’s deal, Conroy could decide later on whether he wants to extend him after seeing how he adapts to life with his new team.
Hanifin Would Give Sabres a Very Good Blue Line
If the Sabres were to acquire Hanifin, they would have one of the league’s better blue lines. With young talents already on their back end, such as Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson, and Henri Jokiharju, this team could go into each and every game knowing their back end is more than capable of shutting down each and every offensive star they face up against. As far as great trading partners go, there may be no better than these two when it comes to Hanifin.
