Countdown to TradeCentre: Noah Hanifin Controls Destiny, Jacob Markstrom Didn't Ask for NTC Waiver

The NHL's March 8 trade deadline is fast approaching and teams are deciding whether to buy or sell and which players can make the biggest difference and retain the most value. Check out today's trade rumors and predictions on the NHL beat.

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Hanifin's Choice

The Calgary Flames continue to broadcast ahead of the March 8 trade deadline with Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Jacob Markstrom.

According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, Hanifin, who is an unrestricted free agent pending, appears to be in control of his own destiny, with the Flames open to an extension but willing to deal a defenseman if that door closes.

“Noah Hanifin is playing the best hockey of his career right now, and that's partly why the Flames are playing well,” Dreger said on Insider Trading. “He's the only guy who can make that decision, and the decision is, 'Should I stay in Calgary, should I extend my contract, or should I tell the Calgary Flames I'm not going to renew?' and they accept the trade (move forward). There's a lot of interest – you'll have to call if it's extended or not.”

The 27-year-old defenseman was paid $4.95 million on an expiring deal and signed an eight-year extension with the Flames in the fall before opting out.

Hanifin has nine goals and 29 points in 53 games this season, his sixth since joining the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster 2018 trade.

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Markstrom did not ask the NTC to withdraw

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed Tuesday that the New Jersey Devils have been engaged in flares in trade talks surrounding Markstrom, but clarified that the goaltender was never asked to waive the no-trade clause.

“Jacob Markstrom was told, 'Would you refuse to go to New Jersey?' the question is not proposed. That tells you a few things,” LeBrun explained to Insider Trading. “First of all, this trade talk didn't come up until that point. It begs a few more questions, why not? That's one of the things we found out today. There seems to be a discrepancy between the two teams about how much to pay Jacob Markstrom, which means the Devils are going to Calgary Markstrom wants to retain some of the salary remaining on his contract in any trade.

“He's got two and a half years left on his $6 million a year contract, so you can see why the Flames aren't too interested, or at least they want to think about it, if the two teams can come to an agreement and what if it's dead between the two teams, who knows, but of course the Devils still need to improve their goaltending position.

The 34-year-old netminder has a 17-14-2 record this season, a .916 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He has picked up significantly this season after posting an .892 save percentage last year.

The Flames are three points behind the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues for the wild card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis has one game on Calgary and Los Angeles has three.

The Devils are just two points behind the Detroit Red Wings as they rely on goaltenders Vitek Vanecek and Niko Dawes to clinch the final wild card in the Eastern Conference. Vanecek, 28, has a 17-9-3 record this season, an .890 save percentage and a 3.18 GAA. Dawes has two wins to improve his record to 5-5 with a .906 save percentage and 3.02 GAA. New Jersey currently has three goaltenders on its roster after recalling Akira Schmidt, who has a 5-7-1 NHL record this season, from the AHL on Monday.

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No price has been set for Guentzel

The Pittsburgh Penguins must decide whether to continue waiting on unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel or trade the winger for assets in order to make their playoff run.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that the Penguins continue to field calls for Guentzel, but have yet to set a price tag on the 29-year-old.

“The Penguins continue to call him, but as far as I can tell, the Penguins haven't told teams what the price would be to get Jake Guentzel because the Penguins aren't there yet,” LeBrun explained. “What they're doing right now is taking calls and teams trying to show Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas where they're going to trade him if he gets to that point and they want to be part of that conversation.”

Signed to an expiring deal worth $6 million, Guentzel has 22 goals and 51 points in 49 games this season. A two-time 40-goal scorer, he scored 36 goals and 73 points in 78 games last season.

Selected in the third round of the 2013 draft out of Omaha, NE. native spent his career with the Penguins, making his debut in 2016-17.

The Penguins enter Wednesday's game seven points behind the Red Wings for the final wild card spot with three games in hand.