WASHINGTON -- Following a season of uncertainty, and eventually, change, Noah Hanifin has enjoyed putting down roots with the Vegas Golden Knights this season.
That’s the security that comes with the eight-year, $58.8 million contract ($7.35 million average annual value) the defenseman signed April 11 after he was traded to the Golden Knights by the Calgary Flames on March 6. It’s more than the contract, though, that has Hanifin feeling at home with Vegas (3-2-1), which returns from a three-game road trip to host the Los Angeles Kings (3-1-2) at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (11 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN).
The 27-year-old has gotten accustomed to his new surroundings on and off the ice. After initially living in a hotel and, later, in a townhouse at the end of last season, Hanifin and his wife, Monique, who were married in August, moved into a house during the offseason and are feeling more a part of the Las Vegas community.
“It’s been great,” Hanifin said last week. “I feel real settled in now. I think coming last year at the (Trade) Deadline, you kind of just get into it right away. You get to figure it out and you get to know the guys and get ready for the playoffs, so I think that helped me a lot.
“And I think now just having a full camp and getting settled in the area and stuff, I feel real good.”
Hanifin is off to a solid start to the season with one assist while averaging 20:26 of ice time in the Golden Knights’ first six games. Hanifin has done a little bit of everything, playing in all situations, including on the penalty kill and the power play.
That’s exactly what the Golden Knights thought they’d get when they acquired the left-shot defenseman by trading defenseman Daniil Miromanov, a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a third-round selection in the 2025 draft to the Flames (plus a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers, who retain 25 percent of Hanifin’s remaining salary last season).
“He probably adds in every area,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He can break pucks out on his own, really good skating defender, will play through you. On the power play, he hasn’t played as much as he did last year, but he’s great on top. He gets his shot through. He’s part of the penalty kill. He plays against whoever is on the ice. We’re not afraid to use him [in] a top matchup. He’s good all around.
“There’s really no area of his game that I would say is weak. He’s just a solid 200-foot player that comes to play every night.”
Although Hanifin was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after last season, he felt comfortable quickly in Las Vegas, so he signed to stay there a little more than a month after the trade.
“I didn’t know I was going to be coming here and then it ended up working out for both sides,” said Hanifin, who had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 19 regular-season games and five points (two goals, three assists) in seven Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Golden Knights last season. “It’s just a great organization with the way they run things here and the culture. I think for me as a player and a competitor you want to be in a place where the team and the organization are in it to win it and that’s how they are here.
“They want to win every year, so that’s something I wanted to be part of.”
Hanifin welcomed the stability after a hectic last season during which speculation that he might re-sign with Calgary turned into constant rumors about where he was going to be traded because of his expiring contract.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s kind of one of those situations that you’re going into a UFA year, a lot of players can experience that. I think just being on the ice and playing hockey was kind of my escape away from all the noise. I just tried to focus on what I could control and that was just playing well. Then, however it fell, I was OK with that.”
During that time, Hanifin leaned on Flames teammates he was close with, such as forward Andrew Mangiapane and his defense partner Chris Tanev, who was also in the final season of his contract and was traded to the Dallas Stars on Feb. 8.
“I think he was kind of confused the whole time,” said Mangiapane, who was traded to the Washington Capitals on June 27. “It was a tough scenario that he was in, but he just kept it to himself.
He was a pro at the rink every day and didn’t let those outside rumors or whatever they were affect his game or affect our dressing room.
“He kind of said that at the start of the season that, ‘Boys, I’m here to play and whatever happens, happens.’”
Ultimately, Hanifin, a Boston native, appreciated his time with the Flames and that they traded him to a team and city where he found a fast and easy fit.
“All I’ll say about Calgary is I have a lot of respect for everybody in that organization,” he said. “It was a great place to play hockey for six years. I love the community, great people, but the way it ended up, I just wanted to get back in the U.S. and be a little bit closer to family and things like that. So, I’m happy with the way it turned out.”
Tanev, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, isn’t surprised Hanifin has made such a smooth transition with the Golden Knights. He noted that adaptability is one of his strengths.
“He can do everything,” Tanev said. “If you ask him to run the first power play, he can do that. If you ask him to be on the first kill, he can do that, play against top guys. He’s very versatile, and that’s what makes him so good.”
With trade rumors no longer a concern, Hanifin can focus fully on playing this season and helping Vegas, which aspires to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons after being eliminated by Dallas in seven games in the Western Conference First Round last season. He’s also welcomed having some continuity playing alongside Nicolas Hague, who was his defense partner at times at the end of last season too.
“For me, it’s just continuing to build my game as the season goes on,” Hanifin said. “I think everybody had a pretty solid camp, and I think this time of year it’s just about kind of getting the defensive part of the game in check again and all those little things that you develop over the course of the season, just getting that stuff back as quick as possible. But I’m feeling good.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report
