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Noah Hanifin

Golden Knights Sign Noah Hanifin To Eight-Year Extension

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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed Trade Deadline acquisition Noah Hanifin to an eight-year contract extension (Twitter link). The deal reportedly carries a $7.35MM cap hit, a six-year full-no-trade clause, and full signing bonuses, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link).

Hanifin is earning front-page news once again after his trade market dominated much of this year’s Trade Deadline prep. Vegas was a surprise landing spot for the top defender, acquiring him in a three-team trade that saw them send Daniil Miromanov and a 2025 first-round and third-round pick to the Calgary Flames and a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers. Hanifin has since played 16 games with the Golden Knights, recording two goals and nine points. He’s recorded the second-most points among Vegas defensemen since joining, behind Shea Theodore’s 11 points. The scoring brings Hanifin up to 13 goals and 44 points in 77 games, flirting with his career-high 48 points posted in the 2021-22 season.

Philadelphia’s brokerage of the deal reduced Hanifin’s cap hit to just $1.2375MM – just enough for Vegas to acquire Tomáš Hertl’s $6.75MM cap hit. The Golden Knights now have just $1.464MM in off-season cap space, per CapFriendly, assuming an $87.5MM salary cap. They’ll have to negotiate with seven free agents, including Jonathan Marchessault and Alec Martinez, now the only expiring defenseman.

While they’re almost destined to face cap troubles down the line, the Vegas Golden Knights now have Hanifin, Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Hertl signed through the 2025-26 season. That’s not to mention the impactful supporting cast, like William Karlsson, Ivan Barbashev, and Zach Whitecloud, who are all signed through the next two seasons. Vegas wasn’t able to top 100 points this season, though they should be one of the final teams to secure a playoff spot. But they’ll have plenty of time for a more prolific season, with their core pieces – including three top defensemen – now locked up for the foreseeable future.

The deal is a shade cheaper than the rumored eight-year, $60MM deal Hanifin had discussed with the Flames earlier in the season. The AAV/cap hit on that would have come in at $7.5MM per year, meaning he’s taken $150K less annually and $1.2MM less in total over the life of the contract to extend in Vegas.

This was Hanifin’s chance to cash in on a long-term deal and his first offseason being eligible for unrestricted free agency if he chose. Fresh off his 27th birthday in January, he already has quite the career under his belt, accumulating 62 goals, 221 assists and 283 points with an even rating over 675 games with the Flames, Golden Knights and Hurricanes since his debut in 2015.

Hanifin is a definite top-pair threat but not an elite point producer or power-play contributor. That makes his cap hit, which is 8.8% of the ceiling at the time of signing, a tad steep when examining comparables. Players with similar roles and results, like the Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm and the Blue Jackets’ Damon Severson, signed eight-year extensions over the last two years with cap hits of $6.5MM and $6.25MM, respectively, which were between 7.5% and 8% of the cap ceiling at the time of signing. A slightly richer and older comparable is Maple Leafs blue-liner Morgan Rielly, who inked an eight-year, $7.5MM AAV extension in October 2021 that was 9.2% of the ceiling at the time of signing.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Golden Knights Acquire Noah Hanifin From Flames

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9:23 p.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights have announced the full trade package – sending a 2025 first-round pick, a conditional 2025 third-round pick, and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Flames. The first-round pick carries top-10 protection, while the third-round pick will upgrade to a 2024 second-round pick if Vegas advances to the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Vegas also sent a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to broker the deal. Calgary retained 25 percent of Hanifin’s $4.95MM cap hit, while Philadelphia retained 50 percent, meaning he’ll only count towards $1.2375MM of Vegas’ salary cap. Philadelphia sent the rights to 27-year-old centerman Mikhail Vorobyov to Vegas to facilitate the salary retention.

Vorobyov played in 35 NHL games across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season, scoring two goals and five points. He’s spent each of the last four seasons in Russia’s KHL, including the last three with routine heavyweight SKA St. Petersburg. Vorobyov has 112 points across 194 KHL games since the 2020-21 season.

5:28 p.m.: Even after acquiring Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals yesterday, the Vegas Golden Knights were not done adding to their current roster. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that the Golden Knights would be acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that defenseman Daniil Miromanov is heading from Vegas to Calgary as part of the return.

Not only will Vegas be adding a top defenseman to their already loaded defensive core, but Darren Dreger of TSN reports the two sides are working on a contract extension as well, although Friedman did pour some cold water on that scenario later. Since Hanifin will be a member of the Golden Knights before the trade deadline, he is eligible to sign an eight-year deal in Vegas.

With Alec Martinez being placed on the team’s injured reserve earlier this morning, Vegas had an opening next to top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Factoring in the recent activation of Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights have once again put together a top defensive core leading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

As the defending Stanley Cup champions, Vegas will likely represent Hanifin’s best opportunity to win Lord Stanley’s trophy for the first time in his career. There are some personal ties as well for Hanifin in Nevada, as he did play with star center Jack Eichel a decade ago on the United States National Junior Development Team.

Suppose the Flames are willing to retain 50% of Hanifin’s salary. In that case, a deal became feasible, as Vegas was only $500k from being able to absorb Hanifin’s full salary for the rest of the season. Still holding on to their first-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and a moderate prospect pool to deal from, the makings of a deal came to fruition rather quickly between the two teams.

Trade Deadline Notes: Hanifin, Markstrom, Guentzel

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On yesterday evening’s rendition of ’Saturday Headlines’ on Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman spoke at length about several rumblings across the league leading up to the trade deadline. One of the major discoveries presented by Friedman is that the Tampa Bay Lightning are the preferred landing spot for Calgary Flames’ defenseman Noah Hanifin and that he would be willing to discuss an extension.

The news comes shortly after a report suggested that the Florida Panthers were making a concerted push for Hanifin, which could simply be some rivalry gamesmanship on their part. At any rate, this report confirms that the Lightning are making a strong effort to fill in the void left by the injury to Mikhail Sergachev, and are not ready to cede the Atlantic Division to other up-and-coming teams in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

An extension in Tampa Bay would be the most difficult part of any hypothetical transaction to acquire Hanifin, due to the Lightning only having around $10.85MM available to them in cap space this offseason, even with the salary cap set to rise to $87.7MM. If Tampa Bay is amicable to signing Hanifin at a deal they believe gives them solid value, General Manager Julien BriseBois may have to make a difficult choice between Hanifin, and pending unrestricted free agent forward Steven Stamkos this summer.

Other notes:

  • Friedman also noted some specifics regarding the trade speculation surrounding Flames’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom, and the details behind his public frustration with the organization. Markstrom was originally displeased with the front office due to them indicating they had a deal in place to send him to the New Jersey Devils but then reversed course due to the solid play of the team in recent weeks. Friedman reports that even if the Devils are unable to acquire Markstrom before March 8th, New Jersey would be more than happy to reignite trade talks with Calgary at the 2025 NHL Draft.
  • Lastly, Friedman confirmed that the Pittsburgh Penguins had set the asking price for forward Jake Guentzel at two prospects; not one prospect and a first-round pick. Friedman’s report comes a few days after President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas said to reporters that the Penguins’ primary focus at this year’s trade deadline would be to get younger overall. With several buyers not interested in parting with a first-round pick at this year’s trade deadline, the asking price for Guentzel may lead to a larger market for Pittsburgh to choose from.

Florida Panthers Making Push For Noah Hanifin

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ESPN’s Kevin Weekes is reporting that the Florida Panthers are making a solid push to acquire defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames. It is important to note that the Panthers do not have a first-round pick to offer in either the 2024 NHL Draft or the 2025 NHL Draft.

Even with the Panthers now involving themselves in the fray; the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs have all had reported interest in Hanifin’s services. Already carrying an impressive defensive unit, Florida may be trying to drive up the price for their rival in the Lightning.

If Hanifin does make his way to Sunrise by March 8th, it would immediately create a very good problem to have for the Panthers. By acquiring Hanifin, the organization would now have four top-four defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency including Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling, and the resurgent Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The team would create some long-term flexibility on their back end, especially if one of Montour or Forsling left for greener pastures this summer. However, as all of them will no longer be a part of the Panthers organization on July 1st, 2024, there is no guarantee that any of them will decide to re-up in Florida.

The inclusion of the Panthers in the race for Hanifin is very reminiscent of the Boston Bruins’ acquisition of Dmitry Orlov last spring from the Washington Capitals. Now on pace to win the President’s Trophy with their current defensive core, Florida may be looking to put themselves over the top in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs after falling three games short last year.

In now his sixth season with the Flames organization, Hanifin is once again putting together a solid year, making him the most popular trade deadline rental option this season. In 59 games so far, Hanifin has scored 11 goals and 34 points overall, averaging 23:44 minutes of ice time per night.

The looming question surrounding any acquisition of Hanifin is how receptive he will be in discussing a contract extension with the acquiring organization. Earlier in the year, Calgary reportedly offered an eight-year, $60MM extension to Hanfin and his camp, but that was evidently not enough to convince Hanifin to stay in Alberta long-term.

Evening Notes: Hanifin, Nugent-Hopkins, Jones, Crevier

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could be viewing Noah Hanifin as their replacement for Mikhail Sergachev, per TSN’s Chris Johnston on Insider Trading. Sergachev has had terrible injury luck this season, recently fracturing both bones in his lower left leg just 10 minutes into his return from a separate lower-body injury that held him out for two months. The 25-year-old defenseman has played just 34 games this season, scoring 19 points. He’s now out indefinitely and is currently on the team’s long-term injured reserve.

Hanifin would be a darling replacement for Sergachev and a major addition to a Tampa Bay blue line that’s been battered and bruised all season long. Hanifin has scored 30 points in 56 games this season, operating as Calgary’s clear-cut top defenseman and averaging over 23 minutes of ice time. His role in Tampa would likely be a bit easier and focus more on taking responsibility off of Victor Hedman’s shoulders. Hedman currently averages nearly 25 minutes of ice time each game, almost six minutes more than any other healthy Lightning defenseman.

Hanifin is on an expiring contract with a $4.95MM cap hit. He’s currently expected to test the open market, though any team that acquires him will get a head start in negotiating a new contract. Tampa Bay is expected to have $7.55MM in cap space available at the Trade Deadline but just $11.5MM available this off-season, with Steven Stamkos headlining their list of pending free agents. That likely limits their ability to give Hanifin the contract he’ll be asking for. All of these factors will undoubtedly come up in trade negotiations, as Tampa Bay looks to acquire one of the top names on the open market.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out with illness and is questionable to play in the team’s Wednesday night matchup against the Boston Bruins, per Sportsnet columnist Mark Spector. Nugent-Hopkins has had another productive season with the Oilers, scoring 49 points in 52 games this season. That puts him on pace for 77 points through 82 games, which would be both the second-most Nugent-Hopkins has ever scored and a notable step down from the 104 points he scored in 82 games last season. His absence would likely lead to Connor Brown stepping back into the lineup, as Edmonton doesn’t have any extra forwards currently on the NHL roster.
  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones is okay after taking a puck to the groin at the team’s Wednesday practice, while defenseman Louis Crevier is out with soreness after taking a puck to the face in the team’s last game, per team reporter Scott Powers. Crevier will be replaced by Isaak Phillips, who has six assists, 22 penalty minutes, and -22 through 29 games this season.

Noah Hanifin Likely To Test Free Agency

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The agents for Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin have informed the team that he will not sign an extension ahead of the March 8 trade deadline and instead intends to test unrestricted free agency this summer, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports on “Saturday Headlines.”

TSN’s Chris Johnston reported earlier in the month that Hanifin’s camp was expected to inform Flames GM Craig Conroy of his re-signing intentions in the coming days. Hanifin indicated last summer he was not willing to extend in Calgary, but became amenable to a deal closer to the beginning of the season and was reportedly offered an eight-year deal with a $7.5MM AAV shortly thereafter.

That deal was still on the table by all indications heading into their discussions this month, but Hanifin likely believes he can attract richer offers over the summer – or with a new squad in the coming months. He’ll now surely be dealt by the deadline and, at 27 years old, becomes the top rental option remaining on the market at any position with Penguins winger Jake Guentzel injured.

With one foot in the “stay in Calgary” door, there haven’t been many documented suitors for Hanifin in recent weeks. The Coyotes had demonstrated interest earlier in the season, but a 2-7-1 stretch in their last 10 games has them far out of the playoff picture and takes them out of the conversation for making a rental acquisition.

Some contenders and playoff hopefuls with obvious holes on defense, such as the Maple Leafs and Lightning, would likely be willing to give up assets for Hanifin without a guarantee of an extension. The minute-munching defender, who has 30 points and a +11 rating in 54 contests, carries a reasonable cap hit of $4.95MM, although that’s still likely too much to swallow for most contenders without moving money the other way.

It’s worth noting that Hanifin has some control over his short-term destiny. His deal affords him an eight-team no-trade list, per CapFriendly. Whether Hanifin would consider an extension with his post-deadline team is unclear.

The coming weeks will end a six-year tenure for Hanifin in Calgary. The Flames acquired him, along with Elias Lindholm, from the Hurricanes in a June 2018 blockbuster, sending Micheal Ferland, Dougie Hamilton, and the signing rights to future Rangers superstar Adam Fox in return.

Hanifin’s averaged a career-high 23:44 this season, and his 0.56 points per game is the second-highest mark of his career. His expected +1.3 rating is pedestrian compared to recent seasons, however, as is his career-worst Corsi-for percentage of 49.6 at even strength.

Latest On Noah Hanifin

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Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin’s agents are expected to present their decision on a contract extension to team management “in the coming days,” TSN’s Chris Johnston reports on Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading.” Hanifin, 27, is a pending UFA and would immediately become the top defenseman available on the trade market if the Flames make him available ahead of the March 8 deadline.

As of now, they haven’t done so. Hanifin has changed his willingness to sign an extension in Calgary multiple times over the past nine months, dating back to an initial report from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun in June that Hanifin would not sign a new deal.

Multiple teams have documented interest in Hanifin. The Panthers inquired about him soon after the June report went public, while the Coyotes showed interest in him as recently as December.

There was renewed optimism for an extension after Hanifin publically reversed course during the 2023 preseason, saying he was “absolutely” willing to remain in Calgary. Multiple sources reported the Flames and Hanifin made progress on an eight-year extension carrying a $7.5MM AAV ($60MM total value), but the team then paused contract talks with all pending UFAs after a 2-6-1 skid to start the season. The two sides have not engaged in further talks, but the deal is reportedly still on the table for Hanifin if he opts to extend.

Johnston doesn’t know which way Hanifin’s camp will sway, although one option is ruled out: letting him walk for nothing in July. “If Calgary is not able to reach some kind of contract extension with Hanifin, they will use the time between now and March 8th to find a suitor somewhere to trade him,” Johnston said.

The good news for Calgary is that Hanifin is having one of the best seasons of his career. He’s third among a deep Flames defense corps in scoring, but his nine goals and 26 points through 50 games have him on pace to crack the 40-point plateau for the second time in the last three years despite a decrease in power-play time.

Hanifin is also logging the most minutes of his career at 23:33 per game – a figure that will increase as the deadline draws closer based on his recent usage. He’s seen significant penalty kill time with positive possession control results relative to his teammates, too. However, at even strength, his 49.6% Corsi share is a career-low.

Combine his potential on-ice impact with his bargain-bin $4.95MM cap hit, which Calgary could easily retain up to 50% of, and they’ll likely net their second first-round pick of deadline season after fetching one from the Canucks as part of the return for center Elias Lindholm last week – if Hanifin doesn’t sign an extension, of course.

Snapshots: Flames, Three Stars, Lightning

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The Fourth Period is reporting that the Calgary Flames picked up trade talks with several teams last week as they look to potentially move on from several pending unrestricted free agents. The Fourth Period cited sources saying that the New Jersey Devils were one of the teams they talked to and even linked the Devils to both Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.

The Flames currently have a record of 15-16-5 through their first 36 games which puts them five points out of a playoff spot as they near the halfway point of the regular season. The team will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks as they also have center Elias Lindholm on an expiring contract, and he is reportedly looking for a deal in the range of $9MM annually.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta also believes that teams have expressed interest in Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, but it’s hard to believe Calgary would deal him given that he is in the first year of an eight-year contract and has a full no-trade clause.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The NHL has announced its Three Stars of the Month, with Nathan MacKinnon taking First Star, Auston Matthews winning Second Star, and Connor Hellebuyck being named Third Star. MacKinnon won on the heels of an 11-goal, 29-point performance in 15 games in December, while Matthew’s put up 15 goals and six assists in just 12 games. Hellebuyck’s December performance saw him post an impressive 7-0-2 record, which was good enough for a Third Star.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning writer Chris Krenn is reporting that the Lightning were forced to dress just five defensemen tonight due to injuries and salary cap constraints. The Lightning lost Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury recently to injury and with no cap space to make a recall, the Lightning were forced to play the Winnipeg Jets one defender short of a full six. The Lightning will be eligible to make an emergency recall after tonight, but due to the language in the Roster Emergency Exception rule, they must wait until the second game to be eligible to recall a player under emergency conditions.

Coyotes Have Shown Interest In Noah Hanifin

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The Coyotes are among the teams that have demonstrated interest in acquiring Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). With Arizona now sitting first in the Western Conference wild-card race and just two points back of the Winnipeg Jets for third in the Central Division, it appears GM Bill Armstrong is gearing up to shift out of rebuild mode and begin spending assets to acquire more veteran talent.

A 6-3-1 surge in their last ten games has the Flames still in the playoff hunt, but a report last month from Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic indicates it hasn’t changed the Flames’ plans of selling off most of their pending unrestricted free agents. The first in-season move to get a value pack for a pending free agent came last week, dealing defenseman Nikita Zadorov to the Canucks for a pair of draft picks. More recently, LeBrun indicated the Flames could look to move Hanifin with an extension in place after previously offering him an eight-year deal worth roughly $60MM – a $7.5MM cap hit – before talks ended due to the team’s early-season slide.

While teams are still calling on Hanifin’s defense partner, Chris Tanev, the former is the top trade chip the Flames have to offer from their blue line. His value among Calgary’s pending UFAs is eclipsed only by top-line center Elias Lindholm.

Through his first five seasons in Calgary, after they acquired him from the Hurricanes during the 2018 offseason, Hanifin notched 31 goals, 125 assists, 156 points, and a +33 rating in 359 games. That works out to 0.43 points per game, a mark he’s outpacing so far this year with five goals and 12 points in 24 contests. He’s averaging a career-high 22:53 and is on pace for an even-strength Corsi share above 50% for his ninth straight campaign. For now, his services come at a financial bargain, costing just $4.95MM against the cap – significantly under market value for a first-pair-caliber defenseman.

You’re likely not winning a championship with Hanifin as your number-one defenseman, but he has a track record of handling heavy minutes while still displaying two-way prowess. The Coyotes’ most significant weakness is far and away their blue line depth, and adding Hanifin to a growing group that’s seen strong performances from Sean Durzi and J.J. Moser this season could boost their playoff chances by a significant margin. MoneyPuck currently lists the Coyotes with 68.4% odds to make just their second postseason appearance since losing in the 2012 Western Conference Final to the Kings.

If Armstrong does move to acquire Hanifin, the 26-year-old would end up playing the role the Coyotes envisioned Mathew Dumba would hold this season. Signed to a one-year, $3.9MM contract late in the summer, Dumba has floundered in the desert, posting just four points in 22 games and a -8 rating, the worst among Arizona defenders. His ice time has steadily decreased since the beginning of the season, and he’ll soon be averaging below 20 minutes per game for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Hanifin is also a left-handed shot, an area of need for the Coyotes. They currently have a surplus of right-shooting defensemen, which has forced players like Dumba and Troy Stecher to play on their off-side.

His acquisition cost won’t be cheap, especially if there’s an extension in place as part of the trade. The Coyotes have plenty of draft capital, though, owning a jaw-dropping ten second-round selections over the next three years. They’ve also retained all their first-round picks for the next three seasons. They also have a quickly-growing forward prospect pool, including 23-year-old Jan Jeník, who had 47 points in 51 games with AHL Tucson two seasons ago and reportedly sought trade options last summer.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Dallas Stars

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Dallas Stars.

Who are the Stars thankful for?

Joe Pavelski

There were a number of different ways that we could have gone here, but it is hard to dismiss the agelessness of 39-year-old Joe Pavelski.

Many pundits thought the Dallas Stars had made a big miscalculation back in July 2019 when the club signed a then 34-year-old Pavelski to a three-year $21MM contract just ten days before his 35th birthday. And one season into the deal, it sure looked like the pundits were right. Pavelski looked lost and tired as he suffered through one of the worst seasons of his NHL career. But since that first year, he has registered 91 goals and 142 assists in 242 games.

Now part of those numbers are because Pavelski is playing fewer minutes than his career average, and he is also playing with very skilled teammates, but it is hard to discount all the intangibles Pavelski has brought to the Stars dressing room on top of being a bonafide top-6 forward. Pavelski hasn’t had to sacrifice any of his attention to detail when it comes to his defensive responsibilities and continues to remain in the conversation when it comes to Selke Trophy considerations year after year. All of this in his 18th NHL season, while he continues to play under a very team-friendly cap hit making just $3.5MM this season (plus $2MM in bonuses).

Pavelski might not be the biggest star in Dallas, but his reliability at both ends of the ice, and his ability to make everyone around him better continue to impress as he pushes towards his 40th birthday.

What are the Stars thankful for?

Their scouting staff.

Very few teams have hit on late first-round picks and second-round picks the way the Dallas Stars have over the last decade. The Stars were fortunate to pick the likes of Miro Heiskanen third overall. But most of their depth was built off smart picks later in the draft. All-star goaltender Jake Oettinger was a late first-round pick 26th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft, Jason Robertson was selected 13 spots later at 39th overall and has emerged as a top-flight offensive talent. Roope Hintz was a late second-round pick in the 2015 draft while Wyatt Johnston was selected 23rd overall in 2021. The list goes on and it goes to show just how Dallas has built a team that can contend year in and year out.

The stars currently boast some of the best depth in the NHL evidenced by Johnston centering a third line that features Jamie Benn. They haven’t just hit on draft picks as they’ve also been able to make smart free-agent signings (see Pavelski above) and craft trades along the way. The scouts in Dallas at both the amateur and pro level have done a commendable job identifying available talent that other NHL clubs are undervaluing.

What would the Stars be even more thankful for?

Ryan Suter dialing it back.

At 39 years old it is unlikely that Ryan Suter is going to find another gear suddenly. The 11-time all-star defenseman has seen his offensive game fall into a decline since 2020, while his defensive game has been slipping away since 2015. Suter was once considered one of the top two-way defensemen in the NHL, but time has caught up to the Madison, Wisconsin native.

In Dallas, Suter has been thrust into a role that is probably outside of his current skillset as he has played significant minutes with Miro Heiskanen. Suter is averaging over 20 minutes a night, and while that is a steep decline from last season, it is still a rather large number for one of the oldest defensemen in the NHL.

The drop-in ice time has mostly come from Suter being removed from the Stars’ power play. With his speed and footwork in decline, the Stars have made the call to primarily use Suter at even strength on their top pairing. The good news for Suter is that he is partnered up with Heiskanen and can benefit from the youngster’s strong skillset. Suter hasn’t been terrible this year and has mostly been fine, but given the Stars’ Stanley Cup aspirations, it will be important that Suter finds another gear, or the Stars look for someone who can better log Suter’s minutes and perhaps bump him down the depth chart.

What should be on the Stars holiday wish list?

A defenseman.

As mentioned above, Suter could probably benefit from a more sheltered role in the Stars’ defense core. Esa Lindell could also use some help as well as he too has had his struggles. All this points to the Stars needing to shop for another defender.

Dallas is in the fortunate position to have a decent farm system from which they could trade, and also have some young roster players that could entice teams to part with a defenseman. Although I would avoid trading Johnston if possible.

The Stars could benefit from a right-side defenseman, and while it wouldn’t improve Suter’s position on the depth chart, it would allow Jani Hakanpää to slide down into the bottom pairing. Hakanpää has had a rough start to the season and would likely welcome some sheltered minutes on a 5-6 pairing.

If Dallas opts to trade for right-shot defensemen there will certainly be options available to them. Tyson Barrie of the Nashville Predators is out there, as is Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames. If the Stars wanted to be bolder, they could take a run at Noah Hanifin as he would slot in beautifully on their top pair next to Heiskanen.

Cap space will be an issue for the Stars, but as we inch closer and closer to the trade deadline it will become less of an issue. Dallas is on the cusp of breaking through in the playoffs and one more defenseman could be just the thing that gets them over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup finals.

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