Noah Hanifin Could Be a Better Fit Than Other Defenseman Out There For New Jersey
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined the Full Press Hockey Podcast and when asked by Jim Biringer about who the New Jersey Devils could add on defense, he thought Noah Hanifin be a better fit than Chris Tanev or Tyson Barrie.
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Jim Biringer: “We saw Vancouver make a savvy move, actually, two savvy moves because cap space, you know, we hate talking about it. It’s not fun. It’s really like crappy to talk about the cap all the time, but they made a nice move with the Chicago mess moving Beauvillier they bring Nikita Zadorov from Calgary.
Calgary is a team that’s got some pieces you mentioned Lindholm before. Is a team like New Jersey and maybe Toronto looking at Tantev and could New Jersey also look at one of their goaltenders as well?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Well, the one that they would move would be Markstrom. And I’m staying away from him because he’s, he’s up and down like crazy. I mean, at that price tag, I wouldn’t take a flyer on him unless they’re retaining half of that deal, or a chunk of it, which they won’t do so basically no, that’s not an option.
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But Toronto definitely likes Tanev. There are a few other teams that would love to get their hands on him. Vancouver would love to get their hands on him as well. Even after getting Zadorov, there are other teams that would like to add that piece to their blue line.
I think Hanifin is more of a target for New Jersey than a guy like Tanev would be. Overall better player, a different type of player but you know a better player. Both guys are free agents. He adds a little bit more to the mix. He is sitting on a $7.5 million a year contract for the next eight years with Calgary because he wanted to see how this team was going to perform. And it’s been up and down. I think at this point, he’s testing the market. So if you are getting a Noah Hanifin whether it’s the Devils or another team, you already know what the price tag is going to be to try to re-sign him.
It’s seven, seven and a half million bucks. And so if you view him as somebody that can sub in now for a run as a pure rental, you’ve already you already know what the price is going to be to potentially keep him that kind of from Calgary’s perspective it’s not the best negotiating position to be in because the future isn’t, I mean, it’s clear if you want to keep them that’s how much it’s gonna cost.
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And you know that ahead of time, so you can’t even say well, I need to talk to his agent and then get denied the permission. You already know what the number is. So it’s not the strongest position to be in from a negotiation perspective on a trade. But if you want to a three-four defenseman, a top four, at least in a guy like Hanafin you’re going to have to pay a decent enough a decent enough price, but Calgary is willing to listen.
I think they’re gonna look elsewhere to see what type of mobile you know defenseman are out there that can fit and work within what what you’ve got. Like if I’m Nashville, I’m trying to sell the hell out of Tyson Barrie. But I don’t know if that’s, I don’t think that’s the direction that the Devils would go in at least at the full clip. And Nashville doesn’t want to retain money on that.
So you may have to get creative and look at alternative options to see who could potentially be available and where the opportunity costs really lie.”