2022 Offseason

[LouCifer]

1 hour ago, sak22 said:

A name I've wondered about, not necessarily my first choice to pursue as I think he could get pricey and I don't know if there is just something in the water in Sunrise these days that rejuvenates hockey careers, but I could see the team going after Mason Marchment.  I think if Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Mang are all brought back it would be very hard to fit him in, but if one or more of those guys are gone a lot to ponder.  Sutter loved his dad, Sutter loves big wingers.

Marchment plays a tough game and I love it. Is he a UFA? I'd like us to explore him if so. 

 

I've also been wondering about Nick Paul. He's a UFA at the end of the year as well. I've been impressed with his faceoffs and play. What do you think?

[travel_dude]

^^^^^

What I think is we need to fix the cap.  It's fine to get in on the UFA market, but we can't overpay for them and sign the guys we have or may want to bring back.  Does signing Copp allow us to play Mackey and Valimaki over Zaddy/Guddy?   I like the idea of a defensive RHS C like Jarkkrok, and he's not yet a UFA.  If we can get him for less than $2.5M then we have options.  Maybe he doesn't fit the roster needs.  Or maybe he just needs to play the right role.

 

[sak22]

10 minutes ago, LouCifer said:

Marchment plays a tough game and I love it. Is he a UFA? I'd like us to explore him if so. 

 

I've also been wondering about Nick Paul. He's a UFA at the end of the year as well. I've been impressed with his faceoffs and play. What do you think?

Marchment is a UFA.  I thought Paul was someone they would've gone after at the TDL.  I think part of why they want to know where they stand with Gaudreau soon is to see what they can do in free agency, I could see both as players that they could pursue as both would be Sutter players.

[LouCifer]

14 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

What I think is we need to fix the cap.  
I like the idea of a defensive RHS C like Jarkkrok, and he's not yet a UFA.  If we can get him for less than $2.5M then we have options.  Maybe he doesn't fit the roster needs.  Or maybe he just needs to play the right role.

 

I would like Jarnkrok back as well. I think it would be incredible to have him as our 4C. He could also play 3C in a pinch or any of the wing positions if necessary. Very versatile. Right shot. Him and Backlund could take on PK1 and PK2 duties completely, alleviating Lindy from having to play PK. It would also let Lindy and our new 2C focus on PP1 and PP2 duty. Special teams would be set AND balanced. Fingers crossed TD, as you mentioned the cap is going to dictate what we can and can’t do, and this scenario assumes Mony’s contract is not a factor. 

[travel_dude]

14 minutes ago, LouCifer said:

I would like Jarnkrok back as well. I think it would be incredible to have him as our 4C. He could also play 3C in a pinch or any of the wing positions if necessary. Very versatile. Right shot. Him and Backlund could take on PK1 and PK2 duties completely, alleviating Lindy from having to play PK. It would also let Lindy and our new 2C focus on PP1 and PP2 duty. Special teams would be set AND balanced. Fingers crossed TD, as you mentioned the cap is going to dictate what we can and can’t do, and this scenario assumes Mony’s contract is not a factor. 

 

He would be a Ryan type player, fitting in many places.  Prefer to have Rozie in 3C spot.  With Pelts and Toffee.

Or Coleman and Toffee.  Reason why I mention the 2nd option is in case we go buy low on Poolparty.  We have to fix the cap and signing Pooly would be easy.  In arbitration, he doesn't get anything over 3.  But, he would also sign a longer deal for less money just to spite EDM.  With that in mind, I think we can do a forward prospect that is waiver exempt in trade.  Walker Duehr and Dube.  

[Thebrewcrew]

It's a really deep UFA forward group this year. 

 

There are 25-30 top 9 options that could hit the market. 

 

C is thin. Malkin and Bergeron aren't options for the Flames. Kadri/Trocheck/Strome the only real top 6 C options.

 

Really deep class on the wings, not even including the Gaudreau's and Forsberg's. 

 

My UFÅ list would be

1. Trocheck- RHS C, still young enough where the contract won't be an issue.

2. Nichushkin- Really complete winger that plays either side and both sides of special teams. 

3. Copp- Also versatile, big body and can move. Would like to see the Flames add some speed.

4. Reilly Smith- He's a little older, but I really like this player. Plays the right side. Always seems to come up with a clutch goal.

 

Blake Coleman was the first notable American born UFA to sign with a Canadian team in a number of seasons last summer. It makes Copp and Trocheck probably a long shot to sign in Calgary. 

 

I also like Mason Marchment, but it screams Buyer Beware to me. He may be an ascending talent, but this was a player that had a career high of 10pts prior to this season. The Florida Panthers were one of the highest scoring teams in NHL history this year, Marchment put up 47pts. I think he may have been the beneficiary of playing on an incredibly deep team and may be compensated like a perennial 40pt guy.

[travel_dude]

38 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

My UFÅ list would be

1. Trocheck- RHS C, still young enough where the contract won't be an issue.

2. Nichushkin- Really complete winger that plays either side and both sides of special teams. 

3. Copp- Also versatile, big body and can move. Would like to see the Flames add some speed.

4. Reilly Smith- He's a little older, but I really like this player. Plays the right side. Always seems to come up with a clutch goal.

 

Nichuskin is a good target, but he will re-up with COL.  He fits there.

Reilly Smith is going to get paid.  He's likely in the same range as Kane.

Copp is a nice target, he's been trending up.

Coming off an arbitration award, but his last contract paid him $4.6M actual prior to it.

NY paid a lot to get him and will try to re-sign him after the SCF.

 

I have to think that Vegas is ripe for the taking.  $200k cap space and they don't have enough to sign all their RFA's.  They might want to trade Dadanov, but he isn't the biggest waste of money.  And he may decide to mess up any trade.  Even if they trade him, that's still way too much cap needed to finish the team.  Kolesar and Roy will get decent raises.  Since they just want to clear cap, we may be able to get a few players for a song.  Nolan Patrick.  Nick Hague.  Nick Roy.  Just some guys that will eat cap and are not the top 6 guys.  

 

One player nobody seems to be talking about is The Cat.  For some reason CHI is looking to move him.  That's one player that would command a big return.  They can have Hanifin, Kylington, whatever.  They want Bread?  Sure.  Zary?  Sure.

[flames for life]

3 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

He would be a Ryan type player, fitting in many places.  Prefer to have Rozie in 3C spot.  With Pelts and Toffee.

Or Coleman and Toffee.  Reason why I mention the 2nd option is in case we go buy low on Poolparty.  We have to fix the cap and signing Pooly would be easy.  In arbitration, he doesn't get anything over 3.  But, he would also sign a longer deal for less money just to spite EDM.  With that in mind, I think we can do a forward prospect that is waiver exempt in trade.  Walker Duehr and Dube.  

I agree with placing Rosie in the lineup.  I think he’s nhl ready and deserves the chance to prove his worth for a long period.  I’m not getting the logic of signing Poolparty to anything.  Aside from size, and feeding off of McDavid’s talent, what has he shown to offer as value.  His stats away from McD have to be super positive for me to acknowledge him as an asset worth pursuing.  I would be more interested in exploring Reinhart as an option.  Not sure where he is in contract, but always thought he would be good in our system.

[The_People1]

4 hours ago, Thebrewcrew said:

I also like Mason Marchment, but it screams Buyer Beware to me. He may be an ascending talent, but this was a player that had a career high of 10pts prior to this season. The Florida Panthers were one of the highest scoring teams in NHL history this year, Marchment put up 47pts. I think he may have been the beneficiary of playing on an incredibly deep team and may be compensated like a perennial 40pt guy.

 

I agree about Marchment.  He's an undrafted 27-year-old who found himself on the highest scoring team to help him pick up career numbers.  He hadn't accomplished anything much up to that point.  He really got lucky with timing.  Someone might give him $4-mil x 4 and I think that's a risky deal to make.

[The_People1]

8 hours ago, LouCifer said:

I would like Jarnkrok back as well. I think it would be incredible to have him as our 4C. He could also play 3C in a pinch or any of the wing positions if necessary. Very versatile. Right shot. Him and Backlund could take on PK1 and PK2 duties completely, alleviating Lindy from having to play PK. It would also let Lindy and our new 2C focus on PP1 and PP2 duty. Special teams would be set AND balanced. Fingers crossed TD, as you mentioned the cap is going to dictate what we can and can’t do, and this scenario assumes Mony’s contract is not a factor. 

 

I like Jarnkrok too.  I think Sutter really trusts him despite not scoring much.  He's a 3rd/4th liner who can PK and brings good speed.  For me it comes down to the money and Jarnkrok can probably get $2-mil x 3 somewhere and I don't want to pay more than $1.5-mil x 2.  

[conundrumed]

What if we look further down the UFA list?

Namestnikov - I may have been the only one that wanted him at TDL. Very honest player that can slot into any role.

Justin Braun - Does he have another year of decent stay-at-home RD depth left in him if no Gudbranson?

Nick Paul - Not too sold on him, but good size and speed. Tampa's already out of cap, but they may have 3 Cups to show for it.

Trevor Lewis - he had an effective season. I liked him a lot.

There are others, but there's 4 that may be affordable.

Namestnikov-Jarnkrok-Toffoli would be a pretty smart, experienced 3rd line.

Just trying to be realistic if we can re-sign everyone.

Should we move Toffoli to stick with Dube?

Package Toffoli and Hanifin? That's $9mil in cap.

But I may be alone in a whole new disdain for Hanifin if that's how he approaches playoffs. Lackadaisical is the best I can come up with. He plays with an arrogance that he can't afford. But like I said, I was extremely disappointed in his hustle, gap control, coverage, can't hold the line to save his life. Plays it all-too-cautious and gets beat regardless.

*end rant*

How to replace him is a conversation worth having, but I kinda hope we do replace him. Get another LD Swede.lol

 

 

[travel_dude]

3 hours ago, conundrumed said:

What if we look further down the UFA list?

Namestnikov - I may have been the only one that wanted him at TDL. Very honest player that can slot into any role.

Justin Braun - Does he have another year of decent stay-at-home RD depth left in him if no Gudbranson?

Nick Paul - Not too sold on him, but good size and speed. Tampa's already out of cap, but they may have 3 Cups to show for it.

Trevor Lewis - he had an effective season. I liked him a lot.

There are others, but there's 4 that may be affordable.

Namestnikov-Jarnkrok-Toffoli would be a pretty smart, experienced 3rd line.

Just trying to be realistic if we can re-sign everyone.

Should we move Toffoli to stick with Dube?

Package Toffoli and Hanifin? That's $9mil in cap.

But I may be alone in a whole new disdain for Hanifin if that's how he approaches playoffs. Lackadaisical is the best I can come up with. He plays with an arrogance that he can't afford. But like I said, I was extremely disappointed in his hustle, gap control, coverage, can't hold the line to save his life. Plays it all-too-cautious and gets beat regardless.

*end rant*

How to replace him is a conversation worth having, but I kinda hope we do replace him. Get another LD Swede.lol

 

 

 

Namestnikov is easily a target, though I'm not sure why we didn't go after him at TDL.  I would not be surprised if DET or DAL try to sign him.  DAL has first crack.

 

Lewis will likely re-sign.  Recent pics of him and Lucic heading to a Stamps game, both wearing jerseys.  That proves nothing other than he is living there and didn't just call Calgary a home during the season.  

 

Ah, Hanifin.  What to do.  For a guy that has this many years in the league, he sure played like a rookie.  You look at the way he played during the regular season and there is no comparison.  +27 then -10 in the playoffs.  Kylington was a +5, and he didn't play much with Tanev during the 2nd round.

[sak22]

8 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Namestnikov is easily a target, though I'm not sure why we didn't go after him at TDL.  I would not be surprised if DET or DAL try to sign him.  DAL has first crack.

 

Lewis will likely re-sign.  Recent pics of him and Lucic heading to a Stamps game, both wearing jerseys.  That proves nothing other than he is living there and didn't just call Calgary a home during the season.  

 

Ah, Hanifin.  What to do.  For a guy that has this many years in the league, he sure played like a rookie.  You look at the way he played during the regular season and there is no comparison.  +27 then -10 in the playoffs.  Kylington was a +5, and he didn't play much with Tanev during the 2nd round.

Or against top competition, +/- is useless, Stone had a better one than Kylington.  When Kylington f'd up in the Edmonton series it was Kassian, JP or Foegele, when Hanifin did it was McDavid or Draisatl, I have little faith that Kylington can step up if Hanifin is dealt.

[pikey7883]

I have definitely been in the camp of resigning both Johnny and Chucky. But I was playing around on capfriendly this morning 😳. The more I fooled around, the more I found value in moving JH, my thought is what if we did a sign and trade with New Jersey. Sign him for $10.5 x 8, then trade him for Mercer the #2 pick this year. And a 2nd next year. Johnny is going to make one of their young centers look like a God, it saves us $9 mil this year, and we get that young 2nd line center in Mercer (which is who I think BT wanted ahead of Zary). I also would then talk to Minny about making a move for Fiala, to take Johnnys spot on the top line. 
For me, I want the flames to play a hard game, and that’s lead by Matty more than Johnny. That just my thought though.

[conundrumed]

51 minutes ago, sak22 said:

Or against top competition, +/- is useless, Stone had a better one than Kylington.  When Kylington f'd up in the Edmonton series it was Kassian, JP or Foegele, when Hanifin did it was McDavid or Draisatl, I have little faith that Kylington can step up if Hanifin is dealt.

I tend do disagree. Hanifin burnt on speed, Kyl burnt on size.

One's been, what, 7 yrs, the other, 1st year really.

The separation between the best fwd in the league and the worst isn't massive, imho.

Just different attributes.

Kylington needs to make those mistakes to get better. Hanifin, this is him, none of this Satoshi Nakamoto should've been new to him.

[sak22]

11 minutes ago, pikey7883 said:

I have definitely been in the camp of resigning both Johnny and Chucky. But I was playing around on capfriendly this morning 😳. The more I fooled around, the more I found value in moving JH, my thought is what if we did a sign and trade with New Jersey. Sign him for $10.5 x 8, then trade him for Mercer the #2 pick this year. And a 2nd next year. Johnny is going to make one of their young centers look like a God, it saves us $9 mil this year, and we get that young 2nd line center in Mercer (which is who I think BT wanted ahead of Zary). I also would then talk to Minny about making a move for Fiala, to take Johnnys spot on the top line. 
For me, I want the flames to play a hard game, and that’s lead by Matty more than Johnny. That just my thought though.

Pretty unprecedented to do that, I really don't think the additional year is that valuable to NJ to part with 2 young pieces, the 8th year pushes him to 37, its a big sell for the Flames but other teams probably care less if he's willing to go to market he's willing to forgo that year and the other teams know that.   

[travel_dude]

59 minutes ago, sak22 said:

Or against top competition, +/- is useless, Stone had a better one than Kylington.  When Kylington f'd up in the Edmonton series it was Kassian, JP or Foegele, when Hanifin did it was McDavid or Draisatl, I have little faith that Kylington can step up if Hanifin is dealt.

 

Considering that McD played more than a 3rd of the time, he faced every pairing.  Top pairing played without interruption for both series.  Kylington played with multiple partners and an injured Tanev.  I'm not suggesting Kylington replaces Hanfin, just that Hanifin was crap in the 2nd round.

 

The problem that I see with Hanifin is he struggles to defend when he tries to hold the line or pinches.  He doesn't make the safe play.  Against EDM, it was the same for the last two seasons.  The only way a Hanifin trade makes sense is if we get a better LD.  Kylington isn't it right now and may never be, but he's a rookie by most standards.  One full time season.    

[sak22]

12 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I tend do disagree. Hanifin burnt on speed, Kyl burnt on size.

One's been, what, 7 yrs, the other, 1st year really.

The separation between the best fwd in the league and the worst isn't massive, imho.

Just different attributes.

Kylington needs to make those mistakes to get better. Hanifin, this is him, none of this Satoshi Nakamoto should've been new to him.

With Edmonton and Dallas it was.  Sorry Foegele and McDavid are 2 different beasts, Dallas was essentially a 1.5 line team.  In all honesty where do people see Kylington in continued growth, the guy is 2 months younger than Hanifin and has been playing professional hockey since he was 18, there are reasons he hasn't been a regular until now, and his breakout season is still only 15 minutes a night and sheltered, if Hanifin is what he is so is Kylington IMO.

[travel_dude]

16 minutes ago, sak22 said:

With Edmonton and Dallas it was.  Sorry Foegele and McDavid are 2 different beasts, Dallas was essentially a 1.5 line team.  In all honesty where do people see Kylington in continued growth, the guy is 2 months younger than Hanifin and has been playing professional hockey since he was 18, there are reasons he hasn't been a regular until now, and his breakout season is still only 15 minutes a night and sheltered, if Hanifin is what he is so is Kylington IMO.

 

You must be forgetting the regular season.  Kyl played 4th most minutes every night.  Played with Tanev, so not sheltered.  Hanifin has been in the NHL for 7 years.  No year over year improvement really.  Kylington came into camp ready to compete.  Ripped.  Skates like the wind.  He took a step back after the couple of injuries this year.  Better chance of him cleaning up some details than Hanifin somehow getting better.

 

Like I said, this isn't really Hanifin vs Kylington.  It's how Hanifin disappointed during the playoffs.  

[conundrumed]

21 minutes ago, sak22 said:

With Edmonton and Dallas it was.  Sorry Foegele and McDavid are 2 different beasts, Dallas was essentially a 1.5 line team.  In all honesty where do people see Kylington in continued growth, the guy is 2 months younger than Hanifin and has been playing professional hockey since he was 18, there are reasons he hasn't been a regular until now, and his breakout season is still only 15 minutes a night and sheltered, if Hanifin is what he is so is Kylington IMO.

I can appreciate what you're saying.

There are a lot of examples of Dmen taking longer. I'd keep Kylington before Hanifin personally.

We are saying, "Kylington, trade him, while his value is at it's highest". I don't agree.
He has qualities that we don't have on the backend in skating and getting involved in offence.

He can experience the league and figure out how not to go brain-dead. Another year of a good coach...

My curiosity is piqued. Those attributes don't grow on trees.

Hanifin, on the other hand, what's left to teach? Erase his memory that he was a high draft pick?

 

[sak22]

10 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I can appreciate what you're saying.

There are a lot of examples of Dmen taking longer. I'd keep Kylington before Hanifin personally.

We are saying, "Kylington, trade him, while his value is at it's highest". I don't agree.
He has qualities that we don't have on the backend in skating and getting involved in offence.

He can experience the league and figure out how not to go brain-dead. Another year of a good coach...

My curiosity is piqued. Those attributes don't grow on trees.

Hanifin, on the other hand, what's left to teach? Erase his memory that he was a high draft pick?

 

I'm not trying to rip on anyone, I think for better or worse I don't see Kylington as being able to step up from this year.  I don't think we are flipping Hanifin for a better option, the FA pool for top defensemen isn't there, so I really expect at least the top 3 from last year to return next year.  I hate scapegoating also, very few players got a passing mark from me that series, maybe Backlund, Mang and Coleman, end of list IMO.  So we can dwell on the past or move past it and hope for a better tomorrow.  I choose the 2nd.  

[cross16]

23 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I can appreciate what you're saying.

There are a lot of examples of Dmen taking longer. I'd keep Kylington before Hanifin personally.

We are saying, "Kylington, trade him, while his value is at it's highest". I don't agree.
He has qualities that we don't have on the backend in skating and getting involved in offence.

He can experience the league and figure out how not to go brain-dead. Another year of a good coach...

My curiosity is piqued. Those attributes don't grow on trees.

Hanifin, on the other hand, what's left to teach? Erase his memory that he was a high draft pick?

 

 

This is fair. I actually think they are similar in a lot of ways. Both are elite skaters but both lack the sense/brain power to keep up with their skating. Hanifin is solid enough that you don't "need" to move him but I also don't get why people are so willing to make excuses for him. Hanifin has played this game for a long time and been in the NHL for a long time and at some point you have to recognize than when a player shows you the same limitations again and again it's not an experience thing. Again, this all being said I don't argue that the Flames should move him because I think they need a similar caliber of player (or an upgrade ideally) but I also don't think he is a must keep and I think we need to stop having these conversations about his ceiling. He's at his ceiling IMO. 

 

Kylington is a tough one for me because the eye test and analytics aren't lining up. I see a bunch of mistakes and holes in his game (and as I said I think his hockey sense will keep him from improving that much) but he keeps coming out so strongly analytically. I didn't love his playoffs and he still graded out as one of the Flames better dman so as much as I want to deal him for an upgrade it's tough. Flames need to get better in transition and get better with having more puck carries/puck moving dman so to move on from Kylington (who has that skill set) is challenging. 

[phoenix66]

56 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I can appreciate what you're saying.

There are a lot of examples of Dmen taking longer. I'd keep Kylington before Hanifin personally.

We are saying, "Kylington, trade him, while his value is at it's highest". I don't agree.
He has qualities that we don't have on the backend in skating and getting involved in offence.

He can experience the league and figure out how not to go brain-dead. Another year of a good coach...

My curiosity is piqued. Those attributes don't grow on trees.

Hanifin, on the other hand, what's left to teach? Erase his memory that he was a high draft pick?

 

I get what you're saying but facts of life are that Hanifin is one of our top 2 and currently nobody in the system is replacing him .

yes i get the argument that he had a bad playoff, but really , they all did .. Tanev at 40% for 2 games was our best dman 

not making excuses for him but with all his seasons he did just nearly double his playoff experience in one offseason 

 

Im ok with moving him , but it has to be in a  deal that brings back his replacement as an upgrade 

[bosn111]

I understand the criticism of Hanifin against Edmonton in the playoffs and yes he makes mistakes. He was also given a much bigger role this year, and it may be that he wasn’t able to keep up with expectations moving into the second round. Maybe McDavid and Draisaitl just were too good. 
 

I am not going to defend the mistakes that Hanifin made but I will bring up some questions that I mentioned in my longer post.

 

Who exactly are you getting to replace Hanifin and how? UFA, the only LD even close are Leddy, DeKeyser, De Haan and Määttä.  Hanifin was 10/38/48/+27 in 81 games at 25 years and 4.95 mil. Leddy 31 years 3/21/24/-30 in 75 games at 7 mil. DeKeyser 32 years 0/11/11 in 59 games at 5 mil. De Haan 31 years 4/4/8 in 69 games at 5.4 mil. Määttä at 27 years, 1/7/8 +17 in 66 games at just over 4 mil. You could maybe include Chiarot or Kulak but even then, Hanifin is younger and has better stats than all of them. 
 

So you are not replacing Hanifin via UFA. The above players may have similar stats to Hanifin with the Flames, but likely cost more cap wise. Any lower cap (Kulak) likely not at the same level.

 

In stats, Hanifin is top 8 LD in points, 11 in goals,  7 in assists, 12 in p/gp, 5th in +\-, 29 in TOI  and 31 in cap hit.

 

Any active players that have similar stats: Werenski far worse +\- and double the cap hit, Shea Theodore higher cap hit, No way are you getting Josi, Hedman, Toews, Hughes. Krug, Chabot, Heiskanen and Reilly won’t fit in the cap.

 

Those D who seem to fit with similar stats would cost more to acquire and may or may not provide any better results. Forsling and Chychrun as examples. 
 

I am happy to listen to suggestions about improving over moving Hanifin but it can’t cause cap issues, cost more than the upgrade is worth and needs to be a proven player (Not Valimaki should have the skills to do better for example). If you have a suggestion that is logical and makes sense, then I am listening. I am not seeing it at this time.

[pikey7883]

2 minutes ago, bosn111 said:

I understand the criticism of Hanifin against Edmonton in the playoffs and yes he makes mistakes. He was also given a much bigger role this year, and it may be that he wasn’t able to keep up with expectations moving into the second round. Maybe McDavid and Draisaitl just were too good. 
 

I am not going to defend the mistakes that Hanifin made but I will bring up some questions that I mentioned in my longer post.

 

Who exactly are you getting to replace Hanifin and how? UFA, the only LD even close are Leddy, DeKeyser, De Haan and Määttä.  Hanifin was 10/38/48/+27 in 81 games at 25 years and 4.95 mil. Leddy 31 years 3/21/24/-30 in 75 games at 7 mil. DeKeyser 32 years 0/11/11 in 59 games at 5 mil. De Haan 31 years 4/4/8 in 69 games at 5.4 mil. Määttä at 27 years, 1/7/8 +17 in 66 games at just over 4 mil. You could maybe include Chiarot or Kulak but even then, Hanifin is younger and has better stats than all of them. 
 

So you are not replacing Hanifin via UFA. The above players may have similar stats to Hanifin with the Flames, but likely cost more cap wise. Any lower cap (Kulak) likely not at the same level.

 

In stats, Hanifin is top 8 LD in points, 11 in goals,  7 in assists, 12 in p/gp, 5th in +\-, 29 in TOI  and 31 in cap hit.

 

Any active players that have similar stats: Werenski far worse +\- and double the cap hit, Shea Theodore higher cap hit, No way are you getting Josi, Hedman, Toews, Hughes. Krug, Chabot, Heiskanen and Reilly won’t fit in the cap.

 

Those D who seem to fit with similar stats would cost more to acquire and may or may not provide any better results. Forsling and Chychrun as examples. 
 

I am happy to listen to suggestions about improving over moving Hanifin but it can’t cause cap issues, cost more than the upgrade is worth and needs to be a proven player (Not Valimaki should have the skills to do better for example). If you have a suggestion that is logical and makes sense, then I am listening. I am not seeing it at this time.

I agree with everything you said. And like it has been mentioned 1000 times, I think based on who has been rumoured to be available, you have to give a hard look at Chychrun.

1. He is an upgrade on Hannifin

2. I believe someone else in our division makes a run at him, which also hurts us.

My idea would be to target Chychrun and Crouse for Hannifin, Vali, Zary, and Phillips and our 1st in 2024.