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Thread: Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

  1. #1
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    The Great One

    Default Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

    So ill admit I was a little bit out of the loop on that specific darft as I was only in two shallower leageus with virtually no picks that year (man I really must be self- centered- lol!). Anyways I went to a family funtcion awhile ago and my uncle who doesnt play Pools but is a hockey fan collects the hockey news religiously. He had a copy of the future watch and my goodness- the Hanifin hype was ubreal!! McDavid got some ink- of course Eichel- Strome too- but this was pre-draft and they had Hanny ranked as the third off the board even before Strome/Marner. To be clear he was touted than as a "Two Way Defender" not an offensive guy but was touted as an organizational pillar. There was no doubting he could run a powerplay.

    So that leads me to one of two conclusions (or a mix of both):

    - The first is just that he matured very quickly. Physical maturity and evolved hockey sense count for so much in the draft. The biggest goal of scouts/teams is obviously to identify players who will play in the NHL and those two qualities are a big part of that. So its possible he peaked early and what were seeing is a player who has kind of settled in and hasnt developed a whole bunch since then. This could explain the trade and the slow growth.

    - Option two is that he's just being underrated a bit. I mean in Calgary Gio is the top dog and then as fantasy players we might have "shiny new toy" syndrome as a lot of those D prospects are very intriguing and some of them are straight offense or have the mystery of an unknown upside which we tend to gravitate towards. Maybe hes still an elite option developing slowly. I mean Bill peters moved too- maybe the trade didnt have anything to do with Carolina being "over him" but had a lot more to do with the coach saying- "hey we need to go get this guy!"- lol!

    In any case the future watch coverage really opened my perspective on him- I missed the boat on a lot of those players (especially Marner) cause I had no idea what the scouts were saying. it wasnt one author either. It was an article- and then their rankings- and multiple scouts quoted in each piece. he was universally touted as a franchise player. Has that changed? Is he a franchise player the way Ekblad or to a lesser extent Ryan Murray is? Will we ever see him step up as an elite option? Post the odd elite season? Id love to hear a description of his play. Im wondering if his stock has fallen due to complacency and/or the emergence of Valimaki/Anderssen or if he just impacts the game in a more traditional two-way role which will lead to some offense but not gamebreaking totals.

  2. #2
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    Dobber Sports Padawan

    Default Re: Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

    Fantasy-wise, I don't see Hanifin ever being a factor, except maybe in really deep leagues. Even after Gio, you've got Andersson, Vali, Brodie ahead of him, and I would say Kylington too has way more offensive upside.
    Hanifin is like a Ryan Murray but better defensively.

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    Dobber Sports Ace

    Default Re: Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

    Hanifin seems to have been in the league a long time and yet he is still only 22. Last season he was fairly average, not making too many mistakes but not doing anything overly well either, but the pairing with Hamonic was very reliable. This year he has certainly improved and seems to have taken another step in his development. He is getting more engaged in the offence and has been steady in his own end. The last couple of games have been a bit rough but that has been the whole team as well.
    Don't expect huge points or peripheral stats this year, better than last though, but the long game is good and he is going to be worth the wait imo.
    And in answer to the point above Gio isn't going to be around forever, but is the clear #1 for now, Andersson and Vali are going to form part of the top 4 going forward, if Vali can stay out of the hospital ward. Brodie is a ufa and fully expected to be gone at, or before, seasons end. Kylingon does have excellent offensive upside but he development curve is a long way behind Hanifin.
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  4. #4
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    The Great One

    Default Re: Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

    Quote Originally Posted by Auston'sWilly View Post
    Fantasy-wise, I don't see Hanifin ever being a factor, except maybe in really deep leagues. Even after Gio, you've got Andersson, Vali, Brodie ahead of him, and I would say Kylington too has way more offensive upside.
    Hanifin is like a Ryan Murray but better defensively.
    See I just disagree so much. 35 is very decent from a dman too- lol! Brodie seems to me like a guy whose benefitting from his deployment and has a much harder cap on his production.

    I came up with the comparable- not in terms of playstyle but in terms of role/deployment/heirarchy... Jacob Trouba. And just like Trouba who had guys like Myer on the team and Niku coming up we were all questioning his offensive upside. I think he'll put up another season of 35-40 and by next year when Giordano is declining fast he'll step up to pp1 more by default and everyones going to be all shocked and appalled that Valimaki and Andersson arent there- lol! Hanifins had franchise upside at one point and a real knack for offense. Maybe it happens internally- maybe it happens via trade- but at some point he WILL get the opportunity to run a powerplay. My supposition is that he'll exceed expectations by a fair margin. The signs are all there- its funny that fantasy GMs dont want to see them. I think its easier to organize guys in that way. Do we give up on a guy like this because its easier to just establish a pecking order that doesnt include him?

  5. #5
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    The Magnificent One

    Default Re: Hanifin- Are we cooling on his upside? Calgary Fans!

    I can't believe he's still only 22! I'm with Dobber in that young d-men need to be given to the 400 game mark before it's known whether they're for real or not. By that time Gio likely will slow down, giving Hanifin a path to do better. My take is don't give up yet.
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