3 reasons why Noah Hanifin to the NJ Devils would make sense
Despite their struggles this season, the NJ Devils could still pull off a blockbuster trade, and Noah Hanifin would make a lot of sense.
After being the subject of trade speculation for quite a long while, there is a good chance that the Calgary Flames will move blueliner Noah Hanifin either at or before the 2024 trade deadline. Per The Fourth Period, Hanifin remains linked to the New Jersey Devils, among other teams that include the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lighting, and the Boston Bruins.
New Jersey, who once upon a time this season didn’t look like they would break into the playoffs, are within striking distance of landing a wild card spot. But they need at least one more asset to put them into the best possible position to reach the postseason for the second straight year.
There are quite a few players out there who would help out the Devils, like Jacob Markstrom. But Hanifin also makes a lot of sense at the moment. But why him and not someone who may come at a cheaper price like Hanifin’s current teammate, Chris Tanev?
There are a few reasons Hanifin would work well with the Devils more than some other blueliners should New Jersey look to boost the defensive rotation.
The Devils have more than enough cap space to make the trade work
With nearly $9.5 million in deadline cap space, the Devils can easily take on the rest of Hanifin’s contract, and they should even have enough to keep him around long-term. With a trio of blueliners seeing their contracts expire either as a restricted or an unrestricted free agent, a potential extension for an upper-echelon player like Hanifin makes for a great trade-off should the Devils move on from Colin Miller and Nick DeSimone.
Santeri Hatakka is still on his entry-level deal and a restricted free agent, so it's a shoo-in that he sticks around. But overall, Hatakka isn’t breaking the bank anytime soon, and the Devils would be a better team with Hanifin.
If they can afford him for perhaps more than the foreseeable future, why not roll with one of the game’s better blueliners?
New Jersey has the assets to give the Flames what they would want
Noah Hanifin isn’t going for anything less than a first-round pick, and the Devils fortunately have one in 2024 that they can send over for Hanifin. As it stands, they also have a first-rounder for 2025 and 2026, second-round picks in 2025 and 2026, plus third-rounders in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
If the Flames want multiple early-round selections, the Devils have more than enough to compensate. And even if Calgary wanted a few prospects for Hanifin, New Jersey can also send at least a couple of them over.
Per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, the Devils don’t have anything close to an elite prospects pool, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some youngsters the Flames would be interested in. For one, Calgary would like to have a young center with scoring potential in the system, especially following the Elias Lindholm trade.
They also got a pair of defensemen in that trade with Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo. Therefore, either at least a mid-tier center or even a forward who can play both center and on the wing would be hard for Calgary to pass on, especially with additional high draft picks involved.
Hanifin would give New Jersey legitimate help in the defensive zone
As of February 12th, the Devils rank eighth in the NHL in scoring with 172 goals, and if Jack Hughes was able to stay healthy all season, that number would be even higher. Although Hughes has only played in 35 games as of the 12th, New Jersey also has legitimate scorers like Tyler Toffoli (22 goals) and Jesper Bratt (20 goals).
There are also players like Dawson Mercer and Nico Hischier who have found the net often when they take shots. That said, the Devils are one of the best teams in the game offensively, so they don’t need much help when they have the puck in the offensive zone.
While Hanifin would logically help New Jersey score even more, given his two-way game that keeps getting more productive, he would also give them much-needed assistance in the defensive zone. With 178 goals allowed this season (28th in the league), it’s clear the Devils have struggled without possession of the puck, and Hanifin will help change that.
At 5-on-5, Calgary’s on-ice save percentage is 91.7 when Hanifin is out there, which is currently second to a career-best of the 91.8 he logged in 2018-19. He would also be another asset on the penalty-kill, and he’s also shown a tendency to invade scoring lanes, recording 208 blocked shots in his last 134 games.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of February 12th)