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One week after being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, Noah Hanifin will return to Calgary on Thursday. A frosty reception from Flames fans could await the defenceman, who had decided not to re-sign with the team after six seasons.
“I was never holding the Flames hostage,” Hanifin recently told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, responding to reports that surfaced in the lead-up to the trade deadline. “It was positioned almost like I was doing it to spite Calgary, to hurt them. That was never the case.”
By acquiring Hanifin (and Tomas Hertl) out of nowhere, the Golden Knights bolstered their reputation as the NHL’s most daring dealmaker. Hanifin has settled behind workhorses Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo through three games, averaging 21:37 of ice time. That is down from 23:46 per game with the Flames. (Hanifin figures to have a reduced role on the power play in Vegas, where Theodore is entrenched as the quarterback of the top unit.)
Hanifin was active offensively Thursday against the Seattle Kraken, putting a team-high five shots on net on 11 attempts.
At 5-on-5, Hanifin has taken the injured Alec Martinez’s place on the top pair next to Pietrangelo. The early returns are promising; Vegas has generated 62.2 per cent of expected goals in 45:26 with Hanifin and Pietrangelo on the ice. The Golden Knights have outscored their opponents 4-3 in those minutes. (By comparison, Vegas has generated 45.4 per cent of 5-on-5 expected goals during Martinez and Pietrangelo’s shared ice time.)
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy pointed out that his team runs a similar zone defence to the Flames under coach Ryan Huska, which has made Hanifin’s transition easier.
“That’s a big plus,” Cassidy told reporters. “(Former Flames coach) Darryl (Sutter) was much more man-to-man. … That’s a little less teaching for myself and (assistant coach John Stevens) in that part.”
When healthy, the Golden Knights have arguably the deepest defence among prospective playoff teams. A top four of Hanifin, Pietrangelo, Theodore and Brayden McNabb would present matchup problems for opponents. That also would allow the 36-year-old Martinez, a steady hand for so many years, to take on easier minutes.
The next chapter of Hanifin’s career is off to a solid start.
“The transition’s been really smooth and feeling a lot more comfortable here,” Hanifin told the Golden Knights’ radio broadcast. “On the ice, off the ice, everything’s starting to click a little bit more now.”
All stats via Sportlogiq
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