Vegas Golden Knights has finally owned the Race by signing a defenseman on Monday after…

Vegas Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon announced today, May 11, that the club has signed defenseman Noah Hanifin to an eight-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $7,350,000. Hanifin, 27, has played in 16 games with Vegas since being acquired on March 6, recording nine points (2 G, 7 A) as a Golden Knight.

During his time in Vegas, Hanifin leads the Golden Knights with a +7 rating, while his 2 goals and 23:02 average TOI rank first among the team’s defensemen. In his 77 games this season between Calgary and Vegas, he has reached 44 points (13 G, 31 A), just four shy of matching a career-high set in 2021-22. The 2023-24 campaign marks the second time that the 6-foot-3 defenseman has reached at least 40 points. Hanifin’s 13 goals this season are the most he’s scored in the NHL, with five of them coming on the power play.

In 675 appearances during his tenth season in the League, Hanifin has amassed 283 points (62 goals and 221 assists). Hanifin led Calgary’s defenseman in scoring earlier in the season with 35 points (11 G, 24 A), and after playing in all 61 games for the team, he had a +13 rating.

The Boston, Massachusetts native played with the Carolina Hurricanes for three seasons before moving to Calgary. During that time, he skated in 239 games and scored 83 points (18 G, 65 A).

Before turning pro, Hanifin attended Boston College for a year, where he finished with 23 points (5 G, 18 A) in 37 games. At the age of seventeen, he made his NCAA debut with the Eagles, becoming the youngest player in the program’s history. After his debut season, he was selected by Carolina in the first round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft (5th overall).

Hanifin has played for the United States in international competitions three times (2019, 2017, 2016), twice (2015, 2014) at the IIHF World Junior Championship, and once (2013–14) in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.