[Oling_Roachinen]

It's either 1-2 years or 6-7 years, in my opinion.

3 years would allow him to file for arbitration and force a one-year contract, becoming a UFA after 4 years with the Flames.

4 years brings him to UFA and no reason for the Flames to do that.

5 years is a bit of a middle ground that maybe the Flames bite, but likely not.

1 year gives him the ability to sign the 8-year long-term contract after establishing himself more here so that could be a bit of a potential likelihood. 2 years isn't much difference and gives him two years to prove himself for that massive prime-year contract. And of course 6-7 years gives both the team and player stability.

I also don't think that Montour's deal is especially concerning for the Flames. If year 1 and 2 for Hanifin were valued at the same this is about the value of his contract each year: 3.25M, 3.5M, 3.75M, 4M, 5.5M, 5.5M, 6M. So 1 year with a cap of 3.25M, 2 at 3.375M, 3 at 3.5M, 4 at 3.625M, 5 years at 4M, 6 at 4.25M, and 7 at 4.5M.