[Sylvanfan]

Hanifin isn't Roman Josi, but he is a player who could grow into that type of role. I think it's a pretty good bet for the Flames to make.

I haven't run every contract and crunched every number, but it would seem that the needle on young defenceman definitely moved upwards this summer in terms of AAV contracts. So to get one with a lot of upside at this price point could really be a good move. That said, for a guy like Hamilton who is as proven as he is, these last 3 years of his contract really could bring good value for Carolina too.

Overall though I always thought this trade got the Flames a bit more time with their core. So now you have Lindholm and Hanifin for 6 more years for 9.8 AAV, to go with the other signed pieces like Monahan, Gaudreau, Giordano.

Realistically I think the Flames do need to get a really good team in place if they want another contract from Gaudreau. They basically have 3 seasons to get these results until the questions will pop up on his contract and can you keep him or do you have to trade him now for value. They are now in a position where I think they can focus entirely on getting this done. Whereas they were only 2 years away from having to make a decision on Hamilton. So to me that extra year is huge.

Let's hope Hanifin can become a Roman Josi type value contract, and that the Flames become a top end team expecting deep playoff runs every year.