Quote:
Originally Posted by bax
You’re not wrong, but Hanifin is a top pairing defenseman in his prime. It’s one of the best assets Conroy has to accelerate the rebuild and bring in multiple future style assets.
If the best asset you can get back in a trade is a 2027 draft pick then this trade isn’t benefitting the current rebuild/retool.
It’s the same reason Conroy couldn’t get anything done with Toronto with Tanev/Zadorov. Their best draft pick available is a 2027 second rounder. That doesn’t help Conroy who is trying to turn this team around in a 3-4 year window.
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Fair. And I agree that as a dman extended he should be getting more. But the extension with a handful of teams handcuffs the team. For any of these guys who are pending UFAs next year, Conroy has to deal them this offseason to maximize value if they have no future on the team. The only reason he’s in this position is because they were so wishy washy to get to this point. Ideally they should’ve made up their mind on the team direction some time back and dealt him in the summer. But to your point maybe given their constraints 2027 is a long way out. But I wouldn’t be opposed to 2026 given we need higher picks and by then Tampa may be in the fuzzy middle if Hedman and Vas falter (which they’re showing signs of aging now). That’s also where we can’t just rely on one piece coming back (the pick). There has to be a prospect coming with it.