Rumor: Noah Hanifin

[FMichael]

The rumor out of Calgary was they offered $7.5 million x 8, his asking price, but his unwillingness to commit to Alberta has been the issue. Assuming that's the price, I think any team should be happy with that.

Also I'm surprised you knew who he was before recently, so you must really know your hockey!

Regarding Canadian teams…

 

[The Zermanator]

So, you have no concerns about paying the price to actually obtain him, and then sign him to a high-priced 8-year deal? None at all? A guy you just readily admitted isn't really that #1 guy?

I wish I had as much knowledge and faith (and naivete) as you obviously do.

You don't think posters are reading the latest clickbait and then coming back here to echo their feeling about how great Hanifin is and how important he is to the Wings present and future? Come on.

I'm clear on who Hanifin is as a player, that's why I'd prefer the Wings didn't pay the price ... twice, as it were. In trade price and in contract price.

Tampa hardly has an excellent blue line ... they just lost one of the league's best defencemen, and are in kind of a different stage of "trying to win it all) than the current Red Wing group. If Tampa doesn't win the Cup, it's a failure. Hardly the same can be said for the Red Wings.

But Boston's is good yes, and they're perhaps chasing him, yes. But you wouldn't know that other than reading the clickbait. That dog don't hunt.

So are you just generally against trading then? You have to pay a price in trade and take on the acquired player's contract in every single trade.

Hanifin would be a big get because he's better than any of our dmen not named Seider, period. And that would be the case for the next couple years until hopefully Edvinsson surpasses that level. Hanifin has also been healthy throughout his career.

Who knows what the trade price will ultimately be, who Hanifin is even willing to sign long-term with, and what AAV he will have. But I have a lot of faith in Yzerman making the team better if he does do something, his track record has been excellent. Are we forgetting that less than a year ago he gave up mostly spare parts to net a different high-level player who didn't want to re-sign with a Canadian team and then re-signed him to a reasonable contract? Yes there was a bigger advantage in that Debrincat wanted to sign in Detroit, which lowered the trade price, but that doesn't mean giving up a little more for Hanifin couldn't also be a good deal.

One thing that seems pretty clear to me, is that Yzerman isn't the type to let himself be taken advantage of. He'll just walk away if that's the only way a deal gets done. That's why he has such a great track record, because of the absence of bad trades his trades basically range from 'ok' to 'absolute steal'. I'm fine with a Hanifin trade that falls anywhere in that range.

 

[lilidk]

If we get him
Hanifin Seider
Walman Maatta
Petry Chiarot

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

If we get him
Hanifin Seider
Walman Maatta
Petry Chiarot

That's not even that good still lol. That bottom pair looks atrocious.

 

[lilidk]

That's not even that good still lol. That bottom pair looks atrocious.

That bottom pair is second now.

 

[RRhoads]

That bottom pair is second now.

Yes, but you also have Maatta playing on the second pairing on his off hand. I can already hear the GDTs blowing up

 

[sepster]

That's not even that good still lol. That bottom pair looks atrocious.

That bottom pairing is well above average for a 3rd pair.

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

That's not even that good still lol. That bottom pair looks atrocious.

Petry and Chiarot have been better lately.

The issue I have on that defense listing is that Seider and Hanifin are on the same pair. If you pick up Hanifin you need to separate him from Seider so you can have decent defense on the ice for ~45 minutes of the game.

 

[Hammettf2b]

If we get him
Hanifin Seider
Walman Maatta
Petry Chiarot

No need to pair Hanifin with Seider

 

[SirloinUB]

If we get him
Hanifin Seider
Walman Maatta
Petry Chiarot

I think the point of acquiring someone of Hanafin's ilk is to ease the burden on Seider by having two pairings that can be trusted in hard matchups. If we acquire hanafin (who im not sold on) id expect to see him deployed on a different pairing than Seider. Im not to hung up on specifics but something more along the lines of:

Walman - Seider
Hanafin - Chairot
Maatta - Petry/Ghost
Holl

 

[jaster]

Yes, but you also have Maatta playing on the second pairing on his off hand. I can already hear the GDTs blowing up

WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON IN HERE??

 

[Holden Caufield]

Based on all the ‘leaks’, he is taking the Matthew Tkachuk approach.

Only wants to sign with a nice weather team, favourable tax state team, or his hometown team.

We are none of those things and won’t be ‘renting’ him.
Nice player, but This isn’t happening

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

The thing about Hanifin is that teams overspend for guys like him all the time in free agency, if I'm him I really want to get to free agency just to see what kind of offers I'm going to get. I think if you deal for him, you're going to have to give him a boatload to get him to give up his free agency. But I'll be honest when I say I have always been underwhelmed by the guy.

I have a ton of time for him, but I appreciate that his offensive game has some limitations. Once you get past that and start accepting him for who he is, he looks super attractive for this team. I also have no reason to expect that a) obvious, materially better defensemen are likely to become available over the next three to five years, and b) such defensemen will want to sign in Detroit (or that Detroit will necessarily have the assets to acquire them). Perfection will always be the enemy of very good. I also don't think he will be nearly as expensive to acquire as some thing.

 

[Frk It]

I have a ton of time for him, but I appreciate that his offensive game has some limitations. Once you get past that and start accepting him for who he is, he looks super attractive for this team. I also have no reason to expect that a) obvious, materially better defensemen are likely to become available over the next three to five years, and b) such defensemen will want to sign in Detroit (or that Detroit will necessarily have the assets to acquire them). Perfection will always be the enemy of very good. I also don't think he will be nearly as expensive to acquire as some thing.

How’s it not going to be expensive?

Chychrun garnered a first rounder and two seconds last year as an expiring UFA despite having a decent amount of injuries.

There are going to be a ton of teams interested in Hanifin’s services.

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

Based on all the ‘leaks’, he is taking the Matthew Tkachuk approach.

Only wants to sign with a nice weather team, favourable tax state team, or his hometown team.

We are none of those things and won’t be ‘renting’ him.
Nice player, but This isn’t happening

Someone on the board said we only have a real chance anymore with Michigan guys, and as much as I hate it, I think it's true.

Until we start winning cups and are a clear cut favorite there is really no reason for top UFAs to come here.

 

[norrisnick]

How’s it not going to be expensive?

Chychrun garnered a first rounder and two seconds last year as an expiring UFA despite having a decent amount of injuries.

There are going to be a ton of teams interested in Hanifin’s services.

Only reason Chychrun was that expensive is because he had 2 full seasons at $4Mand change left on his contract.

Chychrun and Hanifin have probably similar value. Chychrun because he was cost controlled and Hanifin because he's the better hockey player at everything but shooting.

 

[Frk It]

Only reason Chychrun was that expensive is because he had 2 full seasons at $4Mand change left on his contract.

Chychrun and Hanifin have probably similar value. Chychrun because he was cost controlled and Hanifin because he's the better hockey player at everything but shooting.

You are right. For some reason I thought he signed a new deal with Ottawa right after he was traded there.

Maybe I got him mixed up with Timo Meier? Meier is a guy who got a pretty good haul for being on the last year of his deal.

 

[WingsToPick4th]

I would try to target 2 guys on D
1st trade: Olli matta + Berggren + 2nd for Mario Ferraro (25 year old tough D)
2nd trade: Justin Holl + Albert Johansson + pick for Radko Gudas

Walman - Seider (keep this the same)
Ferraro - Ghostisbehere (opens ghost up offensively)
Chiarot - Gudas (nightmare shutdown pairing)
Extra Petry

that would be a terrifying nasty D core to play against come playoff time

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

How’s it not going to be expensive?

Chychrun garnered a first rounder and two seconds last year as an expiring UFA despite having a decent amount of injuries.

There are going to be a ton of teams interested in Hanifin’s services.

I never said it wouldn't be expensive or that there won't be competition for him. We are very much a longshot for his services. I just am not about to poo poo the player or the term he will command.

 

[lilidk]

I think the point of acquiring someone of Hanafin's ilk is to ease the burden on Seider by having two pairings that can be trusted in hard matchups. If we acquire hanafin (who im not sold on) id expect to see him deployed on a different pairing than Seider. Im not to hung up on specifics but something more along the lines of:

Walman - Seider
Hanafin - Chairot
Maatta - Petry/Ghost
Holl

I don't like to see anyone other than Petry with Chiarot .

 

[Macoun]

I would try to target 2 guys on D
1st trade: Olli matta + Berggren + 2nd for Mario Ferraro (25 year old tough D)
2nd trade: Justin Holl + Albert Johansson + pick for Radko Gudas

Walman - Seider (keep this the same)
Ferraro - Ghostisbehere (opens ghost up offensively)
Chiarot - Gudas (nightmare shutdown pairing)
Extra Petry

that would be a terrifying nasty D core to play against come playoff time

Just because a guy is mean to play against doesn’t mean they’re actually good. I’d hate it if those were our defenseman and I’d be shocked if we made the playoffs with them.

 

[Detroit Knights]

trading aljo for gudas would be a travesty.

 

[Gniwder]

Someone on the board said we only have a real chance anymore with Michigan guys, and as much as I hate it, I think it's true.

Until we start winning cups and are a clear cut favorite there is really no reason for top UFAs to come here.

Slim pickings at this point:

Active NHL Players Born in Michigan ‑ All-Time Stats Leaders

All time regular season stats for active NHL players born in Michigan. Complete list of active NHL players who were born in Michigan.

www.quanthockey.com

Looks a lot better if you include NTDP players that played in Plymouth:

Alumni Drafted to the NHL

www.usahockeyntdp.com

 

[Frk It]

I never said it wouldn't be expensive or that there won't be competition for him. We are very much a longshot for his services. I just am not about to poo poo the player or the term he will command.

I think he’s a very good player.

For me it’s when you combine the cost of his next contract with the cost to acquire him in a trade that I start to lose interest.

I also think it kind of depends on how much belief you have in Edvinsson, which I have a ton of. Which is to say if we didn’t have a Hanifin sized prospect with Hanifin like tools in our pipeline (who is very close to NHL ready) I’d probably be more gung ho on the idea of ponying up for Hanifin.

 

[Petes2424]

@Petes2424 what is your spidey sense saying now my friend

Heard nothing about Hanifin and Detroit since Calgary took him off the market, back early in the season. Heard Vegas the most since around late December. Tampa some too before Sergachev’s injury. Mostly Vegas though. The Florida thing is new.

One interesting thing is, after Calgary was scouting both Detroit and Grand Rapids a few times early in the season, nothing but once in January I think it was. Lately though, they’ve been in Grand Rapids multiple times again. Whether that’s Hanifin related, who knows. Heard Detroit could have interest in Pospisil or Sharangovich from Calgary recently though. Even heard Blake Coleman over the weekend.

What I have heard about the blue line, is that they still want someone to carry that second pairing 20+ minutes a night BUT they think they’re moving the puck better than they thought, and want to add a different element to their blue line. If you look at deals Yzerman has made in Tampa, he liked adding monsters on the blue line. Just look at Grand Rapids. It’s no secret he likes big Dmen.

I’ve heard more than once Oleksiak from Seattle, or even Pettersson from Pittsburgh. Also wouldn't be shocked, that if they make a huge move on the blue line, it would be for Parayko. That if any team gets Parayko, it’ll be Detroit.

That said, knowing that’s what they’d like, teams don’t like trading those types. I’ve heard several times, that if Detroit can’t add a big, heavy dman, look for Justin Faulk.

Have heard Ferraro and Justin Schultz too, but that’s the name I keep hearing Detroit could be looking at if they don’t go big. I did have someone tell me today however, after saying Faulk for awhile, that they think the Blues aren’t moving him. That they might be doing something else on their blue line. Like trading Krug somewhere.

At forward, I know they like Jake DeBrusk, and would love to add someone like Brandon Tanev. I’ve heard they’ve also been one of the teams interested in Mittlestadt, and an interesting name? Ryan Hartman. Detroit has scouted Minnesota way too much for some reason. He’s a name I’ve heard for over a year.

Would Hanifin surprise me at this point? No, not at all. If they did make that deal, I’d almost bet Sharangovich or Pospisil comes with him too. Or maybe even Blake Coleman.

On Buchnevich, really haven’t heard Detroit. If they did that though, he can play C, and play it well. So if the Blues really are moving him, can’t count him out. Obviously the cost won’t be cheap, but he is someone who can play C for a few weeks, and then shift back to the wing. I’d be more willing to say they’d move on him, before Guentzel, but who knows. Knowing Dubas, he’s asking for two prospects Yzerman doesn’t care for much.

It’ll be a fun week.