Insider reveals Noah Hanifin's preferred trade destination

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Cooper Godin
March 3, 2024 (12:51)

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Noah Hanifin is set to become arguably the best defenceman on the free agent market this summer, but before that, he wants to win a Stanley Cup.

The odds of him returning to Calgary after the season are pretty much slim to none and it's inevitable that he'll be traded by the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Friday, March 8th.

Hanifin has been linked to numerous teams over the past few weeks, including the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning and if he's dealt to one of those teams, he would be returning to the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

The 27-year-old has set a new career-high in goals so far this season, entering Saturday's contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins with 11, along with 23 assists, for 34 points in 59 games.

While there may be several teams interested in landed Noah Hanifin before the deadline, there's appears to be one that the Calgary Flames defenceman would preferred to be traded to.

During the second intermission of the early games on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed that Noah Hanifin's preferred trade destination is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"When it comes to Hanifin, he's focusing on places and they're focusing on places where he wants to sign an extension. The belief is Tampa Bay is his No. 1 choice," Friedman said.

He added, "I think if this was so easy to do, it would be done already. Everybody continues to work at it. We'll see how this goes over the next week ... But if they can't make it work with the Lightning, we'll see how that develops and how Calgary and Hanifin proceed."

It's going to be very interesting to see how things develop on this front over the next five days. While Hanifin may want to play for the Lightning, another team could swoop in and offer the Flames a better package than Tampa Bay.

Where do you think Noah Hanifin will be playing after 3 p.m. ET on March 8th - Boston, Calgary or Tama Bay? Let us know what you think in the poll below.

Source: Elliotte Friedman - Sportsnet