[CorsiHockeyLeague]

How home fans try to rationalize a lost hockey trade:

1. Guys we traded are suddenly mysteriously worse than they were yesterday (see "Hamilton is terrible at defense")
2. Guys we traded suddenly have other problems plaguing them that don't relate to their hockey ability (see "Hamilton didn't fit in" or "We wouldn't have been able to sign Fox")
3. Trying to justify it based on contract status - which is hilarious in this case since Hamilton's on a great cost-controlled deal for 3 more years while Lindholm and Hanifin don't have contracts at all.
4. "You don't know how this will turn out yet so how can you say it's bad"

The immediate reaction was the right one. Read the first dozen pages of this thread while it was breaking. It's basically all "we'd better be getting more than that back" and "Even just Hamilton for Lindholm/Hanifin might be a win for Carolina, why is Brad adding Ferland and Fox". That's essentially the naked, honest truth before motivated reasoning has had a chance to set in. Yeah, it could turn out fine. Could be great. Hanifin could turn into a Norris winner. But based on what we've seen so far you've got a middle six 40-50 point forward and a second pairing defenseman.

I'm sure Oiler fans said many of the same things about Adam Larsson and Ryan Strome - highly drafted players who hadn't yet lived up to the hype when they were acquired. I think Hanifin and Lindholm are better than those guys right now, and I think Brad gave up less to get them. But the point is that if you're looking at a player who's played well over 200 NHL games in Hanifin's case and almost 400 in Lindholm's, and saying "these guys are just scratching the surface of what they're truly capable of", I'm raising an eyebrow. That's a long track record. They've had plenty of chances to prove they can give more.

I hope it pays off, but I don't like it right now.