It was a creative way of breaking the news.
Joel Hanley certainly approved.
On Tuesday morning, about an hour-and-a-half before the NHL’s free-agent frenzy, the Calgary Flames shared to social media a photo of a tray of nachos.
It was their way of announcing that Hanley would be sticking around the Saddledome. ‘Nacho,’ a nickname that dates back to his stint in Dallas, had just scribbled his signature on a two-year extension that carries an annual cap-hit of US$1.75 million.
“That’s awesome. I love it, I love it,” Hanley told Postmedia. “The nickname kind of stuck, so I’m just rolling with it.”
The Flames, it seems, will continue to roll with Hanley as a Top-4 defenceman.
The journeyman lefty proved this past winter that he is capable of a significant role. He was elevated in the second half of the season to skate alongside MacKenzie Weegar and wound up with career-highs in basically every stat category — two goals, nine points and an average of 18:35 per night in his 53 appearances.
Tuesday’s re-signing tells you a lot about the Flames’ aim for this coming campaign. Hanley recently turned 34 and is Calgary’s oldest rearguard, but as long as he can perform at the same level he did in 2024-25, he boosts their chances of earning a playoff berth next spring.
While it might prevent one of the 20-somethings — Ilya Solovyov or Yan Kuznetsov or Artem Grushnikov or Jeremie Poirier — from immediately claiming a big-league job, general manager Craig Conroy was adamant after his quiet approach to Canada Day that there will be opportunity for the up-and-comers at every position.
“We needed some more depth back there,” said Conroy, explaining why he was keen to keep Hanley. “As much as we have a lot of depth at forward, on defence, there’s good young players but not maybe as much (depth).
“So to have Joel, to know what he can do with MacKenzie Weegar, that he can play all up and down that lineup. And the way he is in the room and the kind of person he is, it just made perfect sense to us.”
It made a ton of sense for Hanley, too, especially after more than doubling his salary from last season. He’s never in his career had a cap-hit in seven figures.
“I still believe I have a lot of hockey left in me,” Hanley said. “Once you get an opportunity to play in a certain role or a certain position, you just want to take advantage of that. It’s such a mental grind, right? Obviously, it’s a physical grind, but mentally, you have to be prepared to be at your best every game and every shift. You can’t take any shifts off, especially when you’re playing against the best players.
“I guess for me, just getting the opportunity to play those top minutes, it was just great that I was able to prove to not only the coaches but to myself that I could play that. But whatever role that I’m given, I just want to do my best and try to help Calgary get into the playoffs.”
While some are insistent the Flames simply overachieved last season, ultimately tying the NHL record for most points by a squad that failed to earn a ticket to the spring fling, Hanley is confident they can prove those folks wrong.
“I think it starts with just how we play and how we’re coached,” he said. “After the season, you talk with a lot of players and everybody hated playing against us. I think we created that identity for ourselves.”
As the clock ticked toward the free-agent signing window, it seemed that Hanley would be playing against the Flames next season.
And then the team shared a photo on social media — a tray of nachos.
“It means a lot,” Hanley said. “Myself and my family, we love Calgary so much. We kind of fell in love with the city, the fan-base and the people, everything like that.
“The end of the season, obviously we didn’t reach our ultimate goal. So to have another opportunity with that and kind of build with the team, I’m just really excited.”