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Originally Posted by activeStick
Has Mittlestadt been given that opportunity before though? He was highly touted coming out of his draft so I imagine Buffalo may have given him plenty of opportunity and he just didn't take it and run.
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He was given that opportunity at 19 on a terrible team with terrible linemates. Then after a couple seasons, management realized that he needed seasoning in the AHL (like 90 per cent of prospects do). Since then he has a more well-rounded game and put up 100 pts in his 162 games playing on the third line. And he’s still only 24, which is the age when a lot of players pop.
I’m not a huge cheerleader for Mittlestadt or anything. I just think he’s the kind of player we’re looking at as part of a realistic return for Hanifin. The Flames don’t want to take a step back this offseason, and my sense is they will prefer 20-24 year old players/prospects to picks. Most of the other offers bandied about (like Jack Quinn) don’t make sense for the other team.
The Flames will be the motivated seller here. They’ll either take one of the offers they get in the next couple weeks, or watch Hanifin walk for nothing next year.