People need to ease up a little bit on Dom here. He is an analytics guy, but he is also a very good writer. He makes it clear at the beginning of the article that the entire grading system is based upon his Game Score Model which is quite complex and relies on a variety of factors. He actually sends out win/lose percentages every day during the regular season which can be quite interesting to follow as well as standings predictions.
With that being said as with all analytical models used for prediction- there are flaws. Dougie Hamilton was an advanced stats darling and that is probably why he has the Flames taking such a hit.
I think Treliving's thoughts are that by getting Brodie back with Gio and on the right side he can return to form and essentially replace what Hamilton brought (or close to). Hanifin has the potential to grow into a player like Hamilton one day, but for now hopefully he can find some chemistry with Hamonic and cement himself on the second pairing.
No question the forwards have improved, but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding this team. I can't wait to get the season going.
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