The defenseman left a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday at 4:14 of the first period. He initially was injured in a 2-1 loss at Montreal on April 16.
"It's better to get it taken care of now and get ready for next year," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said Monday.
Hanifin scored 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 47 games and led Calgary in even-strength ice time per game (18:44) and total even-strength ice time (880:39). The Flames are tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for 26th in the NHL in scoring by defensemen with 80 points (21 goals, 59 assists), 55 coming from Mark Giordano (23 points), Rasmus Andersson (17 points) and Hanifin.
"You don't replace that player, it's not possible," Sutter said. "But I think one of the reasons that we are not in a [Stanley Cup] Playoff spot is there's three or four young defensemen that have not lived up to expectations this year. They have nine games to compete with each other and find out which one or two are able to take the next step."
The Flames (21-23-3) are fifth in the seven-team Scotia North Division, four points behind the fourth-place Canadiens, entering their home game against Montreal on Monday (6:30 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV). The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
