With the benefit of hindsight, Hanifin is a pretty unspectacular player. He's a steady top 4D and that sometimes results in a good return at the trade deadline, but not always. The player isn't the difference between a team winning it all or not. As a very poor comparable, Marchand also dictated where he went, is a far more effective playoff player, and the Bruins got a conditional second that became a first only.
I'm not saying that the Hanifin trade was stellar or anything, but I struggle to see the glaring error that many people are suggesting. Conroy got a first for Hanifin and a project player who had put in minutes for the Flames since the trade.
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