Quote:
Originally Posted by Spurs
Does this refute what Ruttiger said though?
He said that Hanifin isn't going to have value of a #1 defenseman because of a short stretch where he has played well. The fact he could play on the top pair of some of the weakest bluelines in the league isn't going to make other teams overpay for him.
He has a long history of what he is as a defenseman and that is what will determine his value more than anything.
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Of all the weird takes on Hanifin, the weirdest is that, because he has been in the league a long time, he is what he is. When the forum was discussing Valimaki last year and prior, many suggested we should trade Hanifin, because 'he is what he is', whereas Valimaki had lots of upside. When I and others pointed out that Hanifin is only one year older than Valimaki, the rebuttal was that Hanifin had already played lots of NHL games, and therefore he was done getting better.
One of the stupidest takes I've seen on here (which is saying something).
And now here we are a year or two later, and Hanifin is still improving (pro tip:
everyone can improve). And yes here we are, with posters sticking with the 'long history of what he is'.
No, he is in the process of taking his game to another level. His play late last year (as Bingo pointed out), and this year (after a slow start), is the best hockey we have ever seen from him. The Hanifin we have seen in the last handful of games has been
really good, arguably the best defenseman on the team.