Jeremy Laura: Hanifin seems very much in play, but should Wings focus on a right side D?

Jeremy Laura: Hanifin seems very much in play, but should Wings focus on a right side D?
- Jeremy Laura

Hanifin has been very good in his 5 seasons in Calgary and his steady play will be dearly missed when he's dealt.
Elite skating, minute munching defencemen, great on the PK and while not overly physical he is big and effectively battles in front of the net and on the boards. The guy chips in offensively and never gets hurt so someone is getting a beauty.
All this said, Calgary will want a strong package for him or they will just keep him and trade him at the deadline when the salary CAP is a non issue.
My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.

Hanifin has been very good in his 5 seasons in Calgary and his steady play will be dearly missed when he's dealt.
Elite skating, minute munching defencemen, great on the PK and while not overly physical he is big and effectively battles in front of the net and on the boards. The guy chips in offensively and never gets hurt so someone is getting a beauty when he's traded.
All this said, Calgary will want a strong package for him or they will just keep him and trade him at the deadline when the salary CAP is a non issue.
My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.
- DEDDIE

All this said, Calgary will want a strong package for him or they will just keep him and trade him at the deadline when the salary CAP is a non issue.
My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.

It is a weak trade market and you will take what you get or keep him for the TDL. You'll get Wallman and a 2nd
That would give you $1.5M more cap space and someone that is signed for 3 more years.

Didn’t Yzerman just trade a 25 year old injured D to Vancouver? 1st and 2nd round picks coming back.
What’s the deal on Hronek?


Hanifin is a 26 year old stud D, he’ll cost plenty once Conroy trades him. Doesn’t matter when or if it’s not til the trade deadline. It won’t affect his play, he’s a professional.

Players informing teams that they won’t sign an extension is going to become common for Canadian teams. I blame the participation ribbons that people insisted on giving out to all kids, not just the winners.

Hanafin is not flashy but he is very steady and responsible defensively.
He has offensive potential because he skates well, but he just doesn't do much to use that potential for whatever reason.

He's not a third line d-man on any team in the league.

Hey Jeremy, stop wasting our assets in imaginary trades.....

Hanifin has been very good in his 5 seasons in Calgary and his steady play will be dearly missed when he's dealt.
Elite skating, minute munching defencemen, great on the PK and while not overly physical he is big and effectively battles in front of the net and on the boards. The guy chips in offensively and never gets hurt so someone is getting a beauty.
All this said, Calgary will want a strong package for him or they will just keep him and trade him at the deadline when the salary CAP is a non issue.
My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.
- DEDDIE

They can ask all they want but Stevie won’t even pick the phone to answer that.😂😂😂

Hanifin has been very good in his 5 seasons in Calgary and his steady play will be dearly missed when he's dealt.
Elite skating, minute munching defencemen, great on the PK and while not overly physical he is big and effectively battles in front of the net and on the boards. The guy chips in offensively and never gets hurt so someone is getting a beauty.
All this said, Calgary will want a strong package for him or they will just keep him and trade him at the deadline when the salary CAP is a non issue.
My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.
- DEDDIE

Dude did no one tell you that you can’t have an opinion or post about hockey here?????

They can ask all they want but Stevie won’t even pick the phone to answer that.😂😂😂
- Goalie Dad

Pretty sure Stevie doesnt want to miss the playoffs 8 years in a row.
If you look at the Red Wing blueline its easy to assume Stevie is the one making the call!

Dude did no one tell you that you can’t have an opinion or post about hockey here?????
- optimus-reim

My bad I thought that was only on the Sabres page.

Dude did no one tell you that you can’t have an opinion or post about hockey here?????
- optimus-reim

We have one...
It's distinct, as in for Toronto fans, it's enough to make the playoffs and maybe win a round.
For us Wings fans, making playoffs means nothing, unless you can win the ultimate prize.
We are spoiled that way.

I don't see Yzerman making another move for a D-man anytime soon. Ghost is very comfortable playing the right side. I think Maata is an ideal partner for him, but his real value is manning the point on the power play. I just hope(wish) Yzerman is able to dump Chariot no later than the trade deadline. Once healthy, Edvinsson needs to play in Detroit, not GR.

My guess is at minimum a 2024 1st and a top prospect (1 of Kasper, Danielson, Pellikka, Wallinder) is the ask.
- DEDDIE

Didn’t Yzerman just trade a 25 year old injured D to Vancouver? 1st and 2nd round picks coming back.
What’s the deal on Hronek?
- K-man25

The 1st Detroit got back in the Hronek deal was 17th overall (18th at the time of the trade). The second was 43rd. (A fourth rounder also went back to Vancouver.) Critically, since the deal was happening near the end of the season (and the first was conditional/lottery protected) the value of each pick was known with a high degree of certainty. And this was generally considered to be a very good haul for Detroit. Hronek did not have to be moved and I don't think Yzerman would have done it unless the return was a bit lopsided.

Hanifin is better than Hronek but not by a massive margin, plus Hronek will still be an RFA when his contract expires (Hanifin will be UFA) AND he's a right-handed shot. Calgary is not getting a first-round prospect already a year or two ahead of 2024 draftees in development time plus ANOTHER first rounder that has a pretty good chance of being in or around the top 10. I like Hanifin but that is unreasonable for a UFA-bound second-pairing (albeit one who'd be first pairing on a lot of teams, including Detroit ...) left-handed defender who is already as good as he's ever going to be.

The 1st Detroit got back in the Hronek deal was 17th overall (18th at the time of the trade). The second was 43rd. (A fourth rounder also went back to Vancouver.) Critically, since the deal was happening near the end of the season (and the first was conditional/lottery protected) the value of each pick was known with a high degree of certainty. And this was generally considered to be a very good haul for Detroit. Hronek did not have to be moved and I don't think Yzerman would have done it unless the return was a bit lopsided.

Hanifin is better than Hronek but not by a massive margin, plus Hronek will still be an RFA when his contract expires (Hanifin will be UFA) AND he's a right-handed shot. Calgary is not getting a first-round prospect already a year or two ahead of 2024 draftees in development time plus ANOTHER first rounder that has a pretty good chance of being in or around the top 10. I like Hanifin but that is unreasonable for a UFA-bound second-pairing left-handed defender who is already as good as he's ever going to be.
- Sven22

Fair points but what you're not factoring in was the well documented strength of the 2023 draft class and how that impacted the value of the picks DET back got for Hronek.... a 2023 1st round pick in the 16-20 range was equal to a 8-10 pick in most drafts and pick 43 was equal to a late 1st / very early 2nd.
The Flames will trade Hani for a good return either this summer, when injuries happen around the league during the season or at the deadline.
From my perspective the Wings have a top pair in Walman and Sieder and two 3rd pair combos in Ghost/Hall and Matta/Chiarot so its no stretch to think Yzerman would like to improve his 2nd pair.

Fair points but what you're not factoring in was the well documented strength of the 2023 draft class and how that impacted the value of the picks DET back got for Hronek.... a 2023 1st round pick in the 16-20 range was equal to a 8-10 pick in most drafts and pick 43 was equal to a late 1st / very early 2nd.
The Flames will trade Hani for a good return either this summer, when injuries happen around the league during the season or at the deadline.
From my perspective the Wings have a top pair in Walman and Sieder and two 3rd pair combos in Ghost/Hall and Matta/Chiarot so its no stretch to think Yzerman would like to improve his 2nd pair.
- DEDDIE

LD is the deepest position in the wings system. They won’t be paying multiple premium assets for a good but not elite player like Hanafin.

ASP is probably their best chance at a top 4 RHD from their prospect system. At this point, i don't see much else in the system that i think top 4 RHD with mostly maybe bottom pair at best. They have a lot of LD with potential so to me it's a waste to give up assets for a player they might not need anymore in a year or two.

I personally wouldn't trade much for Hanafin. Not that i dislike the player but i just don't think it is worth the assets. If we were talking about trying to get Dobson from the Islanders (yes i know they won't move him), then that would be a different story. He could replace Hronek right away and is bigger and a RHD. If they ever were going to trade Dobson, no doubt it would cost more than what the Wings got for Hronek.

At the time of that draft, i wished the Wings had gotten Dobson and Wahlstrom instead of just getting Zadina.

The only way i trade 1st round picks and prospects is for a top offensive center (Pettersson or a center like him), a good power forward (that can play and fight), a top end winger (like Kyle Connor or a winger that also makes others better) or a top end RHD to slide behind Seider for years to come). To me those are the needs of the Wings to become a cup contender/winner in the next few year.

LD is not really a need at this point given the Wings prospect system is loaded with LD more than any other position. So no to Hanafin unless they can get him for peanuts and re-sign him for cheap as a stop gap until the prospects take over.

Fair points but what you're not factoring in was the well documented strength of the 2023 draft class and how that impacted the value of the picks DET back got for Hronek.... a 2023 1st round pick in the 16-20 range was equal to a 8-10 pick in most drafts and pick 43 was equal to a late 1st / very early 2nd.
The Flames will trade Hani for a good return either this summer, when injuries happen around the league during the season or at the deadline.
From my perspective the Wings have a top pair in Walman and Sieder and two 3rd pair combos in Ghost/Hall and Matta/Chiarot so its no stretch to think Yzerman would like to improve his 2nd pair.
- DEDDIE

If we accept the premise that in 2023, picking 16-20 was as good as picking 8-10 in a normal year and picking 43rd is as good as picking 30th-34th (I think that's overstating it, but I'll play along), if you go ahead and look at the 60-year history of the NHL draft and the caliber of players that have historically been taken in those positions, you can basically break the Hronek trade down as:

- Filip Hronek
- Guy with a 5-7% chance to become a back-half-of-the-lineup everyday NHLer

for

- Guy with a better than a 50-50 shot to be at least as good as Hronek, and about a 10% shot of being at least borderline all-star caliber in his prime.
- Guy with a 20-25% chance to be an everyday NHLer and maybe 5-10% chance to be as good as Hronek or better

You're suggesting that, as a pending UFA who turns 27 this season, Hanifin is worth:

- One prospect who already tracks as having a 50-50 shot or better to be an in-the-same-ballpark-as-Hanifin-caliber player
- An additional top-10 to top-15 draft pick

Disagree. I think Hanifin is a really good defenseman, would love to have him, he'd look great on the first or second pair here, but that asking price is too high.

Hanafin would be a great addition at the cost of a roster player. I believe him to be a solid 3-4 guy with upside. But who would go back the other way? Would Calgary take another left D in return plus?

I'd like to see the Wings go after DeAngelo. Surround him with the right people, and he may not be an issue. Let's do something more about the right side, if we're in the hunt for the playoffs.

Between trading for Hanafin, and adding DeAngelo, we could have a real solid D core that is starting to hit their prime. That would be worth some change.

Hanafin would be a great addition at the cost of a roster player. I believe him to be a solid 3-4 guy with upside. But who would go back the other way? Would Calgary take another left D in return plus?

I'd like to see the Wings go after DeAngelo. Surround him with the right people, and he may not be an issue. Let's do something more about the right side, if we're in the hunt for the playoffs.

Between trading for Hanafin, and adding DeAngelo, we could have a real solid D core that is starting to hit their prime. That would be worth some change.
- AaronR37

Yzerman got rid of TDA a long time ago. He won’t be picking him back up.