Golden Knights’ Noah Hanifin Signs Eight-Year, $58.8-Million Contract Extension
Golden Knights defenceman Noah Hanifin is extending his stay in Las Vegas through the 2031-32 season after signing an eight-year contract extension on Thursday.
Per a club announcement, the 27-year-old will earn $7.35 million per season, bringing the value of his eight-year deal to $58.8 million. He’s currently in the final season of a six-year, $29.7-million contract signed back in 2018.
Hanifin’s new deal includes a full no-trade clause starting in 2024-25 that’ll run through 2029-30. It will then shift to a modified no-trade clause over the remaining two seasons from 2030-32, consisting of a 15-team no-trade list.
The former Boston College product was previously slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, where he would’ve been amongst the top defencemen available on the open market.
Vegas acquired Hanifin ahead of last month’s trade deadline, sending two conditional 2025 draft picks – a first and a third-rounder – along with defenceman Daniil Miromanov to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the veteran blueliner. They also sent a 2024 fifth-rounder to the Philadelphia Flyers, who absorbed 25 percent of his cap hit, to complete the three-team blockbuster.
In 16 games since the trade, Hanifin has scored two goals and totalled nine points while averaging 23:02 per night with the Golden Knights. He’s also posted 27 blocks and 16 hits since joining the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
The left-handed defenceman notched 11 goals and 35 points in 61 games with Calgary earlier this season, playing 23:46 minutes a night. It was his sixth – and final – campaign with the Flames organization, which acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2018 Dougie Hamilton blockbuster.
Hanifin logged 420 games as a Flame, registering 42 goals and 191 points while skating 21:39 minutes per contest. He also appeared in 27 playoff games from 2018-22, tallying eight assists with 44 hits and 42 blocks.
For his career, the Boston native owns 62 goals and 283 points across 675 contests split between the Hurricanes, Flames and Golden Knights. The 6-foot-3 blueliner was a fifth-overall selection by Carolina during the 2015 draft.
The Golden Knights fortified their already-stacked defensive corps by adding Hanifin to a talented group that includes Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb and Nicolas Hague.
With Martinez scheduled to become a UFA this summer, many believe Hanifin was brought in – and subsequently extended – to fill the void that’ll likely be left once the 36-year-old – who’ll turn 37 in July – hits free agency after this season.
In the meantime though, Vegas is counting on its blue line to help lead the franchise on another deep playoff run, just as they did last postseason. As the reigning Stanley Cup champions, they’re looking to become the third team to repeat since 2000, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016-17) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21).
At 42-28-8, the Golden Knights currently hold the final wild-card seed in the West, sitting three points ahead of the St. Louis Blues. With four games remaining, they carry a 99.7 percent chance of making the playoffs entering Friday’s contest against the Minnesota Wild, per MoneyPuck.
Vegas could still improve its postseason position with a strong finish, as the club trails the Nashville Predators (first wild-card team) and Los Angeles Kings (third in the Pacific) by only three points and has a game in hand on each of them.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.