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Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
Hanifin and Andersson are 25 year old 1st pairing D who play in all situations. They were outstanding against Dallas and they struggled against Connor McSupersaiyan - they’re not the only ones. Cale Makar is going to struggle with that assignment too, just watch. 55 and 4 are going to get better.
Backlund is a 14 year vet. He’s wonderful and I’m glad we have him. He needs to slot the #3C, and he’s not going to get perceptibly better than he is now, given he’s been virtually the exact same player for the last eight years.
Mangiapane had a career year in a contract year. He’s undersized, and he couldn’t stick on the first PP unit ahead of Tyler Toffoli, despite ample opportunity in the second half of the season. I said it during the Eichel saga - he’s the definition of a player you sell high on.
Kylington, who I’ve always been a fan of, regressed hard after he took those massive hits. He went from a composed, agile, confident player to one who handled the puck like a live Grenade. And he was lost without Tanev. I still like him, but he isn’t a core piece.
To me, the “core” is the group you put out to tie the game with the season on the line, or to protect a one-goal advantage to close a team out.
Kylington and Mangiapane aren’t on that list, and Backlund being on it is an indictment in its own way.
It doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable players, it doesn’t mean they aren’t quality. But they’re the exact sort of mid-tier players bad teams over commit to, and I’d rather move them for Scheifele or Barzal because those guys would be on the ice to save the season.
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I don’t disagree with some of what you’re saying, but I’m also definitely in the opposite camp with other things you said.
For instance, I didn’t really like the Hanifin-Andersson pairing throughout the entirety of the playoffs, probably more so Hanifin, thought he dragged down his pairing and I often found myself cursing at him for the soft plays, turnovers and general lack of poise or awareness on both ends of the ice. Last I checked (yesterday), they sat 1 & 2 for most goals allowed in the playoffs. Not a good stat to lead the league in.
I do agree with your Backlund take, ideally it would be nice to slot him at #3. But I don’t know how realistic it is to find/acquire a center better than him given the team’s current constraints i.e. cap space & assets. The team has very little to offer for the Scheifele’s and Barzal’s of the world as you suggested.
In terms of Mangiapane though, he’s a core piece to me. He can produce on the PP and I think he’s just scratching the surface in that department. He’s an excellent puck retriever, has underrated vision, a great shot, nice deflection capabilities and a real nose for the net. He has every tool needed to be a top PP unit guy at some point in his career. He may undersized physically, but he plays bigger and with more heart than just about every Flame on the team. Not even a question in my mind that he should be re-signed.
I’m also not as down on Kylington as you are. He’s got some erratic aspects, can be over exuberant at times and definitely regressed a bit later in the season. He also has some physical limitations, but his skating, effort and offensive potential are too good for me to trade away. If the Flames can get him cheap, I’d bring him back. Not sure if he’s ideally slotted at #4, but he’d make an excellent #5 paired with a steady shut down Dman.