Noah Hanifin, who was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights on the trade deadline, has agreed to an eight-year contract extension. According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, the deal has a seven-year full-no-trade clause, a $7.35 million budget hit, and full signing bonuses.
After dominating much of this year’s trade deadline preparation, Hanifin makes front-page news once more. The best defense was unexpectedly traded to Vegas, where he was acquired in a three-team deal that also included the Philadelphia Flyers receiving a 2024 fifth-round pick, the Calgary Flames receiving a 2025 first- and third-round pick, and Daniil Miromanov. Since then, Hanifin has appeared in 16 games for the Golden Knights, scoring nine points and registering two goals. Since entering, he has scored the second-most points among defensemen in Vegas, trailing only Shea Theodore’s 11 points. With this scoring, Hanifin has now scored 13 goals and 44 points in 77 games, narrowly missing his career best of 48 points from the 2021–2022 campaign.
Hanifin’s cap charge was lowered by Philadelphia’s brokerage to just $1.2375M, which was sufficient for Vegas to purchase Tomas Hertl’s $6.75M cap hit. Assuming a $87.5M salary cap, the Golden Knights currently have just $1.464M in off-season cap space, according to CapFriendly. The only two defensemen who are currently set to expire are Jonathan Marchessault and Alec Martinez, two of the seven free agents with whom they will have to negotiate.
The Vegas Golden Knights currently have Hanifin, Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Tomáš Hertl contracted through the 2025–26 season, even though they are very certain to run into cap issues later on. Not to be overlooked is the notable supporting cast, which includes Zach Whitecloud, Ivan Barbashev, and William Karlsson. All of them have contracts for the next two seasons. Vegas should be among the last teams to guarantee a postseason position, despite their inability to score more over 100 points this season. However, they’ll have plenty of time for a more successful season because their key players, including three of the best defenseman, are now committed for the long term.