I am very much in the 'you need players' camp, and Hanifin is a good player. So if they extend him, I am fine with that. And back in the summer, I would have probably preferred that.
But I am definitely in the camp that would prefer a trade now. Two things push ne into the trade camp:
1) Pinder (who I do not often agree with) got it exactly right when he was comparing Hanifin to other $7-8M guys when he said they are all PP guys and Hanifin isn't. And for a guy that doesn't contribute a lot offensively, $7.5M is a lot to tie up. (At $6.5 - 7M, I am all over the extension).
2) The timing of it. I am not worried about Hanifin still being good in 5 or 6 years, that isn't the issue. The issue is that they aren't going to be great for the next 2 or 3, and in 3 years, they probably have younger guys pushing to replace him (Morin, Brzustewicz, or whoever). They have Andersson and Weegar, and they will have new guys, so I guess what I am saying is that they won't miss Hanifin, simply because, even though he is hard to replace, I think they will have replaced him by the time they need to.
So for those reasons, I am in the trade camp.
|