Golden Knights sign stud blueliner Noah Hanifin to massive extension

Breaking news has headlined Thursday afternoon in regards to the Las Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL and defenseman Noah Hanifin.

Prominent hockey insiders from around the league such as Pierre LeBrun, Eliotte Friedman, Chris Johnston, and others have reported that the Vegas Golden Knights and defenseman Noah Hanifin have come to an agreement on an 8-year contract extension with an average annual value AAV of $7.35M per season for a total of $58.8M across the next eight years, starting in the 2024-2025 season.





The 27-year-old smooth-skating, two-way defenseman has been an impactful player since coming into the league with the Carolina Hurricanes. A 2015 first-round pick drafted by the Hurricanes 5th overall, Hanifin played three seasons in Raleigh, NC before being moved to the Calgary Flames in a blockbuster deal in 2018, where Hanifin and Elias Lindholm were traded to Calgary for Michael Ferland, Dougie Hamilton, and the signing rights to Adam Fox.

Hanifin became a staple on the Flames' blueline, playing arguably some of his best hockey across six seasons, making Hanifin a valubale trade chip for a Flames team that was not going to be able to retain him.

Hanifin was acquired by the Golden Knights in a blockbuster trade that involved Golden Knights prospect Daniil Miromanov, a first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick, with an additional fifth rounder going to Philadelphia for retaining half of his salary to help the Knights with their cap constraints.


With the Vegas Golden Knights locking up their newly-acquired defenseman for eight more seasons, a lot of questions will need to be answered for this team to find a way to stay under the cap next season. It will be interesting to see what moves are made if the Knights want to re-sign some of their UFAs such as Johnathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, and Alec Martinez to name a few.

Hanifin was linked to the Maple Leafs this season, and while his preference was always to play in the United States, it was believed that if he had gone to market on July 1st, the Leafs may have made an offer.