When a 25 year old defenseman has a bad playoff series, you don't fire him into the sun, you help him learn and grow from it. Especially when that series was under extremely difficult circumstances.
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I have always found it funny that when a player makes a great play (or many great plays) against other teams, fans always react with 'what an awesome play' or 'what an awesome player'.
But when those same players make a great play against OUR team, fans react with 'what a brutal defensive play' or 'what a brutal defenseman'.
McDavid got on a roll in the playoffs, and played the best hockey he has ever played. Whoever the opposing defensemen were at the time, were going to look bad. Full stop.
Jettisoning those defensemen into the sun because of that lone series/situation is beyond short-sited.
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With the addition of Weegar, Hanifin is going to slotted better in a role that's perfect for him.
Consider that and the improvement he showed from the Covid year to this year (did anyone see him putting up almost 50 points?), I doubt management and the coach are looking to move him. The playoffs will be a learning experience for him.
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"I'm just not going to do it!" - Phil on having to take long practices, work outs, etc.
But hey, Burkie loved having him on the team.
Dude is a 16 year vet with 400 goals and almost 1,000 points in 1,200 games played. He’s also beaten cancer. I think whatever he has been doing has worked just fine for him.
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I have always found it funny that when a player makes a great play (or many great plays) against other teams, fans always react with 'what an awesome play' or 'what an awesome player'.
But when those same players make a great play against OUR team, fans react with 'what a brutal defensive play' or 'what a brutal defenseman'.
McDavid got on a roll in the playoffs, and played the best hockey he has ever played. Whoever the opposing defensemen were at the time, were going to look bad. Full stop.
Jettisoning those defensemen into the sun because of that lone series/situation is beyond short-sited.
I agree.
But honestly I wasn't impressed by Hanifin in the Avalanche series, or Winnipeg series, or either Dallas series. In many ways he reminds me of Dougie Hamilton. A ton of talent, but missing... something that allows top players to be top players. I think our other three D have whatever that is. I can't comment on Weegar because I haven't watched him enough
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Dude is a 16 year vet with 400 goals and almost 1,000 points in 1,200 games played. He’s also beaten cancer. I think whatever he has been doing has worked just fine for him.
Undoubtedly! But the question is whether or not that jibes with Sutter, who emphasizes hard practices, conditioning, etc.
Not a slight to Phil at all, I just find it interesting that the hilarious stories about him all revolve around things that would probably get Sutter's hackles up.
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Also, if the flames do end up signing Kessel, no doubt these concerns would be discussed with Sutter beforehand. Sutter seems to have been involved with most free agent signings since coming back on board (Gudbranson, Kadri both mentioned talking to him during the FA process).
Kind of doubting the flames can make room for Kessel under the cap tho
I think we can assume that Lucic is going no where, otherwise I assume a first round pick would not have been sacrificed for moving Monny.
Agreed. Kylington would have to go in a deal for Eberle and Kraken would have to eat a bit (something they can afford for the price). I'm assuming we'd bury Valimaki and Mackey and we'd sign Stone for min.
Tarasenko... is virtual no-go. I'm just greedy and want that.
Last edited by Drunk Uncle; 08-22-2022 at 10:21 AM.
I think part of the argument is that Anderson and Hanifin couldn’t handle the top line of Edmonton .
So if they can’t play first pairing D in playoffs why not move one for forward help .
Depth D doesn’t matter if the depth can’t stop the oppositions best players
We didn’t loose against Edmonton because Stone was forced to play .
Now if the team believes one or both of Anderson and Hanifin have another level still you can absolutely run them out there again. If the team believes either has peaked looking to acquire a similarly aged and skills forward makes sense
It's true that Hanifin-Anderson couldn't handle McDavid-Draisaitl. It's also true that the majority of the league doesn't have a pair that can. If anything all this shows how valuable Tanev is to the line-up.
The goal should be to have 2 pairs that can play against the McDavid-Draisaitl and you don't get that by trading a top defender off your roster in favour of a forward. You get that by having 4 top 4 d and trying different combinations to get stability. Fully expect they experiment with that and if I had to guess Hanifin-Tanev and Weeger-Anderson are the pairs that start the year.
Last edited by Drunk Uncle; 08-22-2022 at 10:22 AM.
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Also, if the flames do end up signing Kessel, no doubt these concerns would be discussed with Sutter beforehand. Sutter seems to have been involved with most free agent signings since coming back on board (Gudbranson, Kadri both mentioned talking to him during the FA process).
Kind of doubting the flames can make room for Kessel under the cap tho
I think they can (and should if Kessel wants to make a Kessel Run to yyc).
"@EvolvingHockey projects Phil Kessel's next contract will have an AAV under $2 million."
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And, like others, I am against trading Hanifin (of course, unless the return is Tkachuk-trade-like)
It's true that Hanifin-Anderson couldn't handle McDavid-Draisaitl. It's also true that the majority of the league doesn't have a pair that can. If anything all this shows how valuable Tanev is to the line-up.
The goal should be to have 2 pairs that can play against the McDavid-Draisaitl and you don't get that by trading a top defender off your roster in favour of a forward. You get that by having 4 top 4 d and trying different combinations to get stability. Fully expect they experiment with that and if I had to guess Hanifin-Tanev and Weeger-Anderson are the pairs that start the year.
Well, rest of the league shut down the Oilers quite easily. You don’t have to shut down McDrai totally. Just enough.
What teams are in need of a Dman right now? I know Vancouver is one but I am trying to think of potential trade partners for the flames and then speculate what type of deals could be made.
The rest of the league didn't have Zadorov-Gudbrandson as a second pairing to line up against McDrai.
Trading Hanifin puts the Flames back to last year where there was a single point of failure on the back-end (i.e. not enough quality defensive depth). Kylington and Zadorov currently are not good enough to be in the Top 4 of a cup winning team.
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But honestly I wasn't impressed by Hanifin in the Avalanche series, or Winnipeg series, or either Dallas series. In many ways he reminds me of Dougie Hamilton. A ton of talent, but missing... something that allows top players to be top players. I think our other three D have whatever that is. I can't comment on Weegar because I haven't watched him enough
I agree that he could use a little more fire in his game, that he is missing something that would make him elite. But, like Bouwmeester, he is still a very good defenseman. Few players are perfect. Jettisoning them, because they aren't perfect, leaves you in a perpetual state of flux (because everyone would be jettisoned).
