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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed defenseman Noah Hanifin to an eight-year contract extension worth $58.8 million, the team announced on April 11.
The Golden Knights acquired Hanifin on March 6 in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft, defenseman Daniil Miromanov, and a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 draft from Vegas.
“I’m trying to move on now and focus on Vegas and winning here, but of course any time you’re with an organization for that long, it’s a difficult decision because of the people you’re around and you care about them,” Hanifin said to NHL.com. “It wasn’t easy, but just being here in Vegas now, I’m really excited about the future and playing with them now.”
Hanifin was drafted fifth overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2015 NHL draft. He made his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season and after three seasons with the Hurricanes, he was traded to Calgary. Hanifin spent parts of six years with the Flames before the trade to Vegas at the 2024 NHL trade deadline.
The defenseman was a pending free agent after playing out his six-year, $29.7 million contract he signed in 2018, but is now signed through the 2031-32 NHL season.
Noah Hanifin Playing a Key Role for Vegas
Since being acquired by the Golden Knights at the NHL trade deadline, Hanifin has played a key role for the club.
Hanifin has played in 16 games with Vegas, as of April 11, recording 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points, while averaging 23:02 of ice time per game, which ranks first among the team’s defensemen. He has been a key figure on the backend as the Golden Knights are battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“I think obviously they’ve got a winning culture here from winning the Stanley Cup last year, and you’ve got 20 guys in that room that won last year,” Hanifin said to NHL.com. “They kept pretty much the same team together. There’s a standard there that I recognize right away when I came in. It’s all about winning and getting all the way. For me coming in as an outsider, it’s exciting and it’s a good opportunity to come in and do what I can best to help them return to their goal.”
Entering play on April 11, Vegas is holding onto the final Wild Card spot, as the Golden Knights are three points up on the St. Louis Blues with four games left in their season.
The American is currently on the Golden Knights’ top pairing with Nicolas Hague, while also playing on the top power-play unit.
Fans Question Vegas’ Cap Space
Following the Golden Knights’ announcement that they re-signed Hanifin, NHL fans questioned how Vegas had cap space to afford him.
“Mark stone has been placed on ltir for the entire 2024-25 season,” one fan wrote.
“Now it’s time to put more players on IR and LTIR,” another added.
“On a related note, Hanifin has been proactively placed on LTIR for the 2024-25 season,” one fan wrote.
“How you gonna manipulate the system with this signing?,” another fan wrote.
Following the re-signing of Hanifin, Vegas still has Jonathan Marchessault, Anthony Mantha, Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, and Alec Martinez as pending free agent.