Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
This type of argument comes up on many, if not most trades. And it is not only baseless, but is completely self-defeating.
Because the exact opposite thing can also be said: obviously the Flames think he will be, and they have a better handle on Hamilton than anyone else.
Both sides of that argument are equally pointless. Assessing how players will develop going forward is not an exact science. Different people have different views. And every team has professional scouts. It's not like the Flames don't know exactly what Hanifin is, and the Hurricanes don't know exactly what Hamilton is, of course they do (both sides).
The reason trades happen is that views can differ. There are people on this forum that think Hamilton is one of the 10 best defensemen in the league. And there are others, who have been watching him for the same 3 seasons, that are, shall we say, extremely happy he was traded. GMs have differing opinions too.
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Well yeah. The Flames really liked Lindholm and Hanafin and had the opportunity to get both of them at the cost of Hamilton who maybe wasn't a good fit in the locker room or maybe the GM soured on him. The Flames know Hamilton a lot better than the Hurricanes do just as they know Hanafin better than the Flames do. They didn't feel he was worth the money he was asking for on his next contract and obviously felt Hamilton was an improvement on him or they don't give up Lindholm as well in the deal. Professional scouts don't get to see behind the scenes and they don't see a player nearly as much as the team he plays for. It's not even close as if it was that easy for pro scouts every trade should be a win/win for both team which is rarely the case a lot of teams don't end up receiving what they thought they were getting.
I'm not debating whether Hanafin may end up better as that's still to be determined but the argument here is that Hanafin is somehow better than Hamilton in 3 zones which is simply wrong as we all know there is a handful of posters that had it in for Hamilton and this is just their way of kicking him on the way out. I don't own a Hamilton jersey but personally he met my expectations as despite not being properly utilized on the powerplay he was over 40 points, double digit goals, and was an advanced stats darling in his three seasons. I mean he's received Norris votes the past two seasons so despite what some jaded fans may believe a lot of people think he's pretty good while Hanafin has been just okay playing sheltered minutes for the Hurricanes. Sure I wasn't a fan of some of his bad penalties but I think too many fans expected him to become Chris Pronger when he's not that kind of guy. He's a more offensively gifted Jay Bouwmeester and that's IMO a very good player.
I kind of found it odd that Craig Button was not a fan of this trade for the Flames. I would think he and his brother talk and if Hamilton was a problem that he would have knowledge of that and wouldn't have been as critical of the Flames.