1st PP in Calgary?

[Fighting_Emu]

I remember back in the day when these forums were actually busy. Too bad Dobber lets the 10,000+ guys constantly be ********. I miss the JHMs who would actually give more than a sentence or two in a post and try to give meaningful help and not attack any opinion that doesn't align with their own. They got tired of this kind of junk though and have long since left. This post has literally been hijacked for your two to argue with one another. Sad that it isn't uncommon for that to happen here.

For the original poster - I believe Gio will likely be the top D on PP1. Don't expect him to bounce back to 74pt pace though. I would be a lot more comfortable in the 35-45pt range, with 15PPP or so. Gio has only surpassed the 20PPP plateau twice. There is a lot of speculation longterm, I would urge you not to get too concerned about the longterm. Anything beyond 3 years is too forward thinking to be accurate. Valamaki seems to have 2-3:30PP toi upside. That could quickly be changed though if they draft, trade for, or sign an offensive only dman. A Girard/Barrie/Gardiner type (not these exact names) could easily slip in and become the new PP1 guy, making it so Gio and Val lose 30-90seconds a game. E.g. Poink in WPG limits Morrissey but the coaches don't care because Morrissey not being on PP1 allows him to be more effective as ES & PK.

Hanifin has showcased throughout his career that he can shoot the puck decently. I suspect we will see him regularly shoot 5-8g as he has his whole career so far. I do not believe he takes the next step offensively though. He is a full meal kind of guy and coaches generally like to take some of the offensive responsibilities away inorder to over depend on them defensively. His 21:10 TOI is wonderful but I suspect he remains in the 30-90 seconds PP TOI range. His PP role in some cases is Beauchemin like. Yes he can shoot, but he is also on the ice to ensure PP2 doesn't get scored on. Longterm i think he is more comparable to a Dekeyser/Orlov/EJ/Petry type. Logs big minutes (20-23min toi +) but more in the 30-40pt range. His PK toi will climb more than his PP. Petry being his absolute upside. Great for the NHL, not as sexy for fantasy.

Plus two!! Now watch the +/- haters come with the claws out :P

[Fighting_Emu]

I think Valimaki gets his shot.

My complaint is that its kind of become an echo chamber here (an agressive one to boot). Ideas that are different might be wrong- but they might be right. Just a little bit of open mindedness would go a long way. Cover your bases with a quick- "well I see where youre coming from but I ascribe tot he more popular theory that blah blah blah will blah blah bling in blah town".

I find its gotten a little better recently and I know the big guys even weighed in on some threads to keep things civil. Little things can go a long way and Ive founf ssome piositive tilt in the right driection recently.

In general I LOVE cpontrarian opionons- not for the sake of being contrarian but you can tell when someones given something some critical thought and come to a different conclusion. Id rather here that idea even if I disagree (everyone comes out a winner) than be offended that it even exists (the only winner is my tiny ego).

[Russian Rocket 10]

Thanks to everyone for the insightful feedback. No doubt, the arrival of a more "legitimate PP specialist would factor into all of this. Otherwise, I might invest in Valimaki if it doesn't cost me too much...possibly use a late draft pick on him.

Cheers!

[Baga Chips]

One thing I should have mentioned. When Valimaki got hurt before last season, Treiliving said he was 100% making the team so he’s ready. And they held him out of return to play partly cause he hadn’t played in a year and that they didn’t want to have to expose him in Expansion Draft. They like him.

Food for thought

[tweetdrivr]

My opinions were based on the two games I saw Calgary play last season. Hanifin is a very good skater and big man. Perhaps he doesn't have the mental horsepower. But he has the skill set. And he is only 23 years old. So is Andersson. Anderdsson is built like sponbgebob squarepants. He's a square. Solid as hell but not nearly as fluid as Hanifin. So based on what I've seen, barring a trade or another add, I'd say Hanifin should get a shot because he just looks great on the ice. Heck, people said Hedman didn't have a good head for the game early in his career...

[lucafen4]

Hanifin is like Shattenkirk...

... just without the offensive kills

[rataylor22]

https://scorchstack.substack.com/p/s...9-hes-no-carol

First, let’s define what the Flames have in Noah Hanifin. He is a young, 6’3” defenseman, who at 23 is already closing in on 400 NHL games. He is locked in to a relatively friendly contract with 4 years remaining at a cap hit of $4.95 million per season. He is considered a mobile, puck moving defenseman with strong offensive skills. These are all the kind of characteristics that should be, and are desirable to a lot of teams.

The reason why a player like Noah Hanifin would be on the block, however, is because he sucks. Big time garbage defenseman. You know this, you’ve watched him too and have thusly yelled yourself hoarse, flailing your arms at your television, wondering just what kind of childhood trauma he had to endure that leads him to make the decisions he makes on the ice. I’m only telling you this because most NHL GMs, I do not believe, are reading the Scorchstack (yet!), and these are details they do not need to be made aware of.

Noah Hanifin is JUST BARELY above replacement level as an NHL defenseman. You’ve probably seen a lot of fancy vis and a lot of talk about his possession metrics, GAR/WAR/SPAR stats, etc. I don’t need to re-hash them here, but they all tell you the same thing: he creates a lot of chances in the offensive zone, but never in a way that leads to goals, and he can’t be trusted at all on the defensive side of the puck. Some teams can live with his glaring deficiencies in his own end; the Flames, a team that hemorrhages shots against, cannot afford to have a player like that in their Top 4, even if Jacob Markstrom allegedly thrives in that scenario. Especially when his offense for whatever reason refuses to translate into goals.

Seemingly relevant to the conversation.

[tweetdrivr]

And from a very reputable and well spoken source as well. Thanks for that.

[Kawee]

Alright, so here is how I see it. The PP1 short term belongs to Giordano, with Valimaki taking over long term. I think that Valimaki is going to be a amazing defenseman for fantasy and in real life. Hanifin seems like he will be a 30+ point guy long term, I don't know if he'll take a huge jump offensively in my opinion.