I lost track of where it was said in the 19 threads talking about such things, but the presence of Mackie shouldn't be underrated. I think that the long term plan was to keep Mackie in the AHL for one season (as a call-up) and then expose Gio to the expansion draft. If Gio survives that, then Hanifin (with a year of top pair duty) becomes the biggest trade chip in the league for the following off-season, should Valimaki look good in his rookie season.
If Gio is picked up by Seattle, the depth becomes Hanifin/Valimaki/Mackie. Pretty good.
Either way, I don't think that the Flames sell a defenseman this off-season. I think that they move Kylington to the right and pick up one more right handed D.
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