When Noah Hanifin showed up after Christmas without his beard, some joked he was preparing for a trade to Lou Lamoriello’s New York Islanders where facial hair is outlawed.
Such is life as a highly touted UFA, where even grooming habits can be dissected as the trade deadline nears.
Turns out it was a stick to the face just before the holidays that required a dozen stitches and some deft cropping.
“Because of all the stitches, blood was coming down, so I trimmed it up,” explained Hanifin in a quiet chat.
“I had six stitches on the inside of my lip and six outside, so I didn’t enjoy the food at Christmas dinner too much.”
Hanifin is getting used to discomfort, as his future with the Calgary Flames hangs in the balance of management’s decision on the direction of the club.
Make no mistake, several significant pieces on the current roster will be traded by March 8 with an eye on a youthful retooling of sorts.
What is both impressive and daunting for Flames fans is the fact the four most likely candidates for relocation have all played well through the last few months of speculation.
Thursday’s win in Nashville was a perfect example.
Dan Vladar shook off one bad goal to make 29 saves in a 6-3 win that also featured a back-breaking goal by Hanifin in the dying seconds of the second period.
Chris Tanev had three more blocked shots, giving him 34 over his last seven games, while Elias Lindholm punctuated news of his first all-star nod with a 21-minute effort that included a brilliant assist and a 76 per cent efficiency in the faceoff circle.
Therein lies the rub.
With the team inching back into its perennial spot on the fringe of the playoff picture, it’s natural for players, fans, management and media to wonder how the team will fare for the balance of the season without any of these four.
With a much bigger picture in mind, smart money is that at least three of them will be traded within the next two months, opening the door for endless rumours and innuendo to distract even the most focused of professionals.
And while a solid argument can be made Tanev would be a great mentor to stay if he’d agree to a short extension, the one player of the four who makes the most sense to keep is Hanifin.
First and foremost, he wants to be here, which is half the battle in a chilly outpost like Calgary where playoff prospects are akin to coin flips.
Second, he’s only 26.
Trading him for a draft pick and other futures would all be done with an eye on hoping that after five or six years of developing newbies the Flames would land … another dependable Hanifin-type player.
And while it’s a risk worth taking if the player chooses not to stay, the preferable move should be to secure your blue line by re-upping a solid No. 3.
“I've always tried to be really clear with Connie (GM Craig Conroy) and my agent, everybody knows that I've loved my experience in Calgary,” said the ninth-year pro.
“I mean, I've been here for six years and I played on some awesome teams, great groups of guys. I love playing here. I love the city, the fan base.”
Staying focused as the team decides his fate can’t be easy, especially since the Boston native and the club were well down the road on agreeing to an eight-year extension reportedly in the neighbourhood of $7.5 million annually before the club’s slow start put a moratorium on all contract talks.
“It wasn't necessarily wrong,” he said of the reports.
“There were just some things that were going on behind the scenes, negotiations that we were both trying to figure out on both sides of it.
“Sometimes, there's other little things that can go on in negotiations and making a decision. It is a big decision, you know, anytime you're in this spot as a player.”
Asked if he’d be interested in sticking around for a rebuild of sorts, Hanifin shrugged.
“That's not really any decision for me — in terms of direction of what the team's gonna do, that's more up to management,” said Hanifin, who has actively jumped up in the play all year to score six goals and add 12 assists, while remaining a dependable second-pair pillar.
“I think most guys would say they want to win. We’re all competitive, we want to win now and that's kind of always gonna be your mindset. You always want to be in the mix, trying to play playoff hockey.”
With the young talent pool the Flames have to draw from, and the veteran core that will remain, that’s still imminently possible, especially if Oliver Kylington is able to return soon to bolster the blue line.
As Conroy makes final assessments on the team and his course of action, Hanifin said it’s still quiet on the contract front, so he’s focused on being the pro he’s always been.
“Sometimes years like this can get a little overwhelming for players and it can be a little bit of a distraction,” said the first-round pick who has played 636 games.
“I didn't want to let that be the case. I just want to focus on my play and try controlling what I can and then I think when the time is appropriate we know that time will come and we'll probably figure it out.
“But as of right now it's about the team. We're trying to get some wins here and crawl back into the picture.”
He totally understood the club’s decision to hold off on talks.
“We just kind of took a little bit of a pause there and want us to just play some hockey and see where we're at later down the line,” he said.
“But now it’s January, so it's going to be getting closer and closer.
“I'm sure more things will arise here and there in the next couple of weeks.”
Don’t be surprised if that ends with a contract extension, as it should.
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