Trade Bait: Will Lightning strike for Noah Hanifin?

Will Lightning strike for a fifth straight time?

Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois has traded a first-round pick – six in all – over four straight years, with none of those deals coming more than eight days out from the NHL Trade Deadline.

The hockey world is 17 days from March 8, the last day teams can trade players eligible for the 2024 playoffs.

Is it a question of when, not if, BriseBois will make a move to bolster his aging roster?

Even if he has already traded away his 2024 (for Brandon Hagel) and 2025 (for Tanner Jeannot) top picks, there’s always 2026.

Which brings us to the Calgary Flames and new TSN Trade Bait No. 1, Noah Hanifin, the left defenceman and impending UFA who is highly unlikely to re-sign with Calgary.

Tampa Bay is, according to TSN Insider Trading, one of many teams who would love to have Hanifin on its blueline.

The Lightning would meet one Hanifin preference and that is the belief he wants to sign his next contract with a U.S.-based team.

And not to connect dots that ought not be connected, but for Calgary, taking a first rounder three drafts down the road in 2026 could work out just fine, all things considered.

With No. 1 Hanifin, TSN Trade Bait No. 2 goalie Jacob Markstrom and No. 3 Chris Tanev all potentially yielding first-round picks – in addition to the one the Flames already have from Vancouver for Elias Lindholm – Calgary GM Craig Conroy would likely want to space out a potential bounty of first rounders.

This week’s TSN Trade Bait top 10 has no newcomers from last week’s list, but there has been movement. Hanifin moves up two spots from No. 3 to No. 1, while Markstrom and Tanev both drop one place.

The rest of the top 10 are No. 4 Pittsburgh left winger Jake Guentzel, sidelined with an upper-body injury until mid-March; No. 5 Anaheim centre Adam Henrique; No. 6 Edmonton’s 2024 first-round pick; No. 7 Philadelphia right defenceman Sean Walker; No. 8 Philadelphia centre Scott Laughton; No. 9 Ottawa right winger Vladimir Tarasenko; and No. 10 Nashville right defenceman Alexandre Carrier.