The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that they have signed an eight-year contract extension with Noah Hanifin, their newly acquired defenseman.

Hanifin’s new extension with the Golden Knights carries a salary cap hit of $7.35 million over the next eight seasons.

Noah Hanifin is in the final season of a six-year, $29.7 million contract with an AAV of $4.95 million. The Golden Knights are giving him a nice pay raise. He also has a full no-trade clause in the first six years and a 15-team no-trade list in the final two years of the deal.

Vegas acquired Hanifin from the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, March 6th, two days before the NHL Trade Deadline, March 8th. Full details of the trade can be found here.

The Flames tried to sign Hanifin before trading him to Vegas. Calgary was offering $7.5 million over an eight-year extension, according to Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period. And for a minute, it appeared he would stay with the Flames. But as the season went on, all signs pointed to Hanifin being traded and going to test free agency.

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Initially, Hanifin was looking to be traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, the Lightning could not give up the assets the Flames wanted, so he was traded to the Golden Knights.

Instead, Hanifin takes a couple hundred thousand dollars less to play in Vegas in a state with no state income tax.

On the day after the trade, Kevin Weekes stated Vegas and Hanifin were close to an extension.

Since arriving in Vegas, Hanifin has brought stability to the defensive side of the puck. He is a solid defenseman who has become Vegas’s number-one defenseman.

In 77 games with the Golden Knights and Flames, he has 44 points (13 goals and 31 assists). The Carolina Hurricanes drafted him fifth overall in 2015. He spent three seasons with the Hurricanes before being dealt to Calgary in June 2018 along with Elias Lindholm for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, and Adam Fox to Carolina.

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In 675 regular season games, he has 283 points (62 goals and 221 assists). Hanifin has only appeared in 27 playoff games, recording just eight assists.

The Golden Knights and GM Kelly McCrimmon always get their men. Vegas always knows when it is time to find their next piece. With Hanifin extending, all eyes will be on Alec Martinez, a pending UFA, Jonathan Marchessault, and Chandler Stephenson.



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