Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathgod
Weegar
Tanev
Hanifin
Andersson
Zadorov
Kylington
Välimäki
Mackey
Meloche
Gilbert
That's 10 D men, and that's not including Micheal Stone who the Flames could bring back.
Flames are clearly a top 6 forward short, so moving out Hanifin for a quality top 6 forward + would make sense, given the current circumstances. It's not like Hanifin was a force in these playoffs. Of the 12 playoff games this year, he was a + in only one of them.
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For me I think Mackey and Gilbert are not in the same tier as the others from an asset value perspective, they fairly obviously get waived barring one of the top 8 getting traded. I think Gilbert would clear but Mackey could get picked up as a seventh dman by another team who are desperate, he moves the puck a lot better than Gilbert. Probably gotta take that chance though as I don't see him bringing back a significant asset anyway.
Carrying 8 dmen is obviously a non-starter so for me the choice with the remaining group is do you do something now or wait until Tanev comes back and it is forced. i'd bet they will try to slip Meloche through waivers when that happens or make a trade if he plays well enough to force their hand.
I know Valimaki wasn't great last year but with his physical skills he is going to be at worst a bottom pairing NHL defenceman imo and needs to be in the league this year learning from NHL coaches and peers day in day out. He's too valuable an asset not to invest the time in with how old the team is getting and moving him now would be a huge sell low