Vegas hits the jackpot with trade
for Noah Hanifin
The Golden Knights once again use long-term
injured reserve to pounce on a top trade target
By
Ryan Mosher
LAS
VEGAS (March 7, 2024) — The
Vegas Golden Knights acquired defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames
late Wednesday night. Hanifin was the top target on the market for this year’s
trade deadline.
The Flames received defenseman Daniil Miromanov,
a conditional 2025 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 third-round pick in
exchange for Hanifin.
The Flames also retained 50% of Hanifin’s
salary, which was imperative to the Golden Knights due to their tight cap situation.
Vegas also acquired Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Many people around the NHL are frustrated with the
defending Stanley Cup champions and the way they’re using loopholes in the salary
cap to acquire top talent for their impending cup run. “How does Vegas keep getting
away with this?” Brian Hayes said on a segment of SportsCenter on TSN.
This isn’t the first time the Golden Knights
have done this. Prior to last year’s trade deadline, Mark Stone was placed on
long-term injured reserve (LTIR) following back surgery. This allowed Vegas to
trade for Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Quick despite having very
little cap room.
When a player is placed on LTIR their salary no
longer counts against the team’s cap. Stone’s cap hit is at $9.5 million, so
that left Vegas with plenty of room to add three key players in their cup run.
These moves are advantageous because there is
no salary cap for teams once the playoffs start.
Mark Stone was conveniently ready for game one of
the playoffs and produced an impressive 11 goals and 24 points enroute to
winning the Conn Smythe trophy as the Stanely Cup Finals MVP.
Stone is now on LTIR again as the trade
deadline nears. This opened the door for Hanifin to be sent to Vegas.
While the Golden Knights are the latest team to
circumvent the salary cap, they weren’t the first. That honor belongs to the
Tampa Bay Lightning.
In the 2020-21 season, Lightning star Nikita
Kucherov needed surgery and was placed on LTIR. The Lightning were then able to
trade for David Savard, a lockdown defender who helped them secure their second
straight Stanely Cup.
Kucherov was likely ready before the playoffs,
but wasn’t added to the roster until they started because Tampa Bay would’ve been
over the salary cap.
Vegas will have more chances to add to their team.
The NHL’s trade deadline is this Friday March 8 at 3 p.m.
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