If we trade Hanifin for a legit no brainer like the Hamilton deal, sure.
I just think any trade involving Hanifin we likely get the worse player in the deal.
He got 6 points and is a plus 5 in his last 8 games and is still getting the finger pointed at him despite having brutal goaltending.
On a team with Mangiapane, Markstrom, Lucic, and Coleman it’s so bizarre that he’s the whipping boy. Oh well it happened with Brodie, I’m sure Weegar will be the next goat after Hanifin is gone.
I don’t think Hanifin is even close to the whipping boy. Everyone here agrees Marky is the #1 problem with the team and he is for sure the whipping boy (deservedly so). And everyone wants Lucic off the roster too.
I think the thing with Hanifin is that he’s one of the few players we have with high perceived value that is not necessarily irreplaceable. Not that he isn’t valuable, he’s definitely a solid #3. But he’s nothing outstanding.
Guys like Coleman, Marky, Looch (thank god his contract is up after this year) are almost untradeable with their contracts, so if we want to clear space or re-stock the prospect pool it’s gonna come down to the Mang’s, Tanev’s, Backlund’s, Rasmus, Weegar, Toffoli’s to bring us back some futures while also clearing cap space
Do I think our D gets significantly worse this year if we ship Hanifin? Definitely yes. But if he’s bringing back a 1st+, or an A level prospect/ young player, or an equivalent young forward, I’m very very open to it. He also only has 1 year after this one and could easily walk in FA for a team closer to home with more money to offer.
Rasmus, Weegar, Tanev, Kylington/Zad is a capable top-4, plus we can easily sign a FA to replace Hanifin with the 5 mil in space.
Let’s say we trade Hanifin for a 1st+ B prospect, and then turn around and sign a top-4D to replace him (one of Gavrikov, Orlov, Dumba, Severson, Clifton, or Mayfield). So then it effectively becomes Hanifin for 1st, B prospect, and one of those guys. That seems like a huge win to me.
I’d also be open to moving Toffoli or even Mang, but we’re already pretty strong on D (so long as Kylington returns) that I think Hanifin is more expendable