Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I think Doughty is overrated. I'd have put those guys at Hedman, Doughty, Letang, Ekholm.
However, I don't see Hanifin at quite getting to a Hedman ceiling, mainly because he's not quite the physical specimen that Hedman is.
I do think that Hanifin and Valimaki have the biggest toolboxes of the four kids.
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Hedman's a physical specimen but I also think he's overrated. Even when he was winning the Norris trophy he was getting pretty soft usage and a lot of his points were due to a stacked forward group.
Do I think he's great? Yes.
Do I think Doughty's still better? Yes.
Do I think Doughty can be overrated? Yes.
I would probably rank those four guys
Doughty
Hedman
Letang
Ekholm
However if you asked me to rank our guys in terms of who I think will be the best NHLers from age 25-32 (their "prime"), it would be Kylington, Valimaki, Hanifin, Andersson. Which is virtually a reverse order.
Overall, I would say that none of these guys, whether it's in the area of hockey sense or tools or even polish, are clearly above the others, not even Hanifin. Perceptions of them seem to vary for reasons that are presently out of their individual control (i.e. Kylington struggled defensively as a 17 year old therefore has limited defensive upside, Andersson has played the most top 4 of the rookies due to Hamonic's injuries therefore he's ready to play top pairing on a cup contender, Hanifin has 300 games of experience and is already playing top four therefore da da da, Valimaki made the team out of camp therefore da da da). Seems a lot of these arguments are based on how the team is utilizing them, which can be due to a myriad of biases and needs.
Now, that said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I agree that he has more to give. I just don't think it is quite as much as the other three. After tomorrow he will have already played 300 NHL games—he is likely closer to what he will be in the long term than any one of Andersson, Kylington or Valimaki. Having said that, I think it is unlikely that any of the three will pass him.
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I disagree that Hanifin having the most NHL GP means he's closest to his ceiling. That's a baseless assumption. Was he even close to NHL-ready at 18? No. The Hurricanes were just a bad budget team that wanted their sexy draft pick to play in the NHL before he was ready. An argument could be made that Hanifin should have played in the AHL at ages 18 and 19 at the very least. Even 20 year old Hanifin, while he had a strong first half to his season, wasn't without serious issues that caused Canes fans to strongly question his IQ, progression, upside, and consistency.
I don't have a clue where Hanifin goes from here. I don't put a lot of stock into what he's done in his first 3 seasons because much of this was influenced by factors outside of his control - he wasn't a case of a Rasmus Dahlin or Aaron Ekblad who were way too good to not be in the NHL at age 18. He was just a guy who happened to be in the NHL at age 18. He still has a ton of developing left to go as do the other three guys. Has he probably been the best of the bunch this year? Maybe, I can't say because they're not all being evaluated on a level playing field.
And that's why I'm reticent to either trade a D - there are a LOT of question marks about each of them. The trio of Gio / Brodie / Hamonic have been a huge part of this team's success and I'd prefer the other four to just keep developing in limited roles for the next two years. Cup contenders can afford to lose a player to UFA without getting an asset back.
I also think that the team presently needs Andersson due to certain aspects of his skillset being at a premium after the Hamilton/Fox trade, yet simultaneously I think he's the guy we need to be looking to replace via this year's 1st rounder in the draft - try to find a really high ceiling RHD prospect because I don't fully believe Andersson is a lock to be a top four guy.