The Calgary Flames are selling this season, but they don't want to sell to the point that they go into a full-blown rebuild. Getting a decent haul for Hanifin would make sense from multiple angles. They are getting supreme assets for a player who was likely leaving at the end of the season. They also send him to a market he might want to re-sign in, which raises his value. They can also use the pieces they get from the Devils to either retool the roster or make trades that help their roster in 2024-25.
Noah Hanifin is exactly what the Devils need right now. Even if Siegenthaler is back in a month or two, the Devils are sorely missing what Ryan Graves brought last season. The left side has been the weak side, even with Luke Hughes playing well. Hanifin gives the Devils a top-line player who is responsible in his own end.
Hanifin is playing well in all three zones this season. He isn't a superstar, but he's doing his job everywhere. The Devils just need a player who does his job on defense. They are making way too many mistakes, and with the goalies they have, it's ending up in the back of the net.
It would hurt to give up a first-round pick, but the conditions the Devils would be forced to put on it would hurt even more. If the Devils go to the Eastern Conference Finals, they have to give their pick to the San Jose Sharks. The Flames would want the condition to be a 2025 first-round pick, but we don't see the Devils doing that. It's probably multiple middle-round picks if that's the case.