Quoting: Ledge_And_Dairy
Hanifin fetches at least a top 15 pick value. Saying "hes a 2nd pair D and thats it" is dumb. Hes 23, defense almost never reach their potential until 25-26 need proof? Just look at Slavin, 1 year ago nobody knew who he was and now hes a top 10 defense in the league.
Slavin has been great every year he's played, maybe that's you and couple of others people but I knew how good he was. Agreed Hanifin could improve and be a top pair D but as I said, I add a 3rd for that, not more. Top15 pick in a normal draft, it's okay. In a good draft, that's bad. Carolina didn't traded him for nothing. He is great offensively/PP, below-average defensively/PK. Not a bad puck-mover either. An average 2nd pair D.
'15-16
Hanifin: 1st pair mins; Bad
Slavin: 2nd pair mins; Great
'16-17
Hanifin: 3rd pair mins; Below-average
Slavin: 1st pair mins; Elite
'17-18
Hanifin: 2nd pair mins; Above-average
Slavin: 1st par mins; Elite
'18-19
Hanifin: 2nd pair; Above-average
Slavin: 1st pair mins; Great
'19-20
Hanifin: 1st pair mins; Above-average
Slavin: 1st pair mins; Elite
Slavin has been great/elite the past three years while Hanifin has been average to above-average thanks to his offensive game.
It's not the best comparison imo, Slavin has been great forever while getting the toughest minutes, he just didn't get any recognition because he didn't put 40+ pts and was playing in Carolina. A better comp would be Fowler who struggled in his first seasons and then became a capable 1st pair D for 2-3 years; now he is back to 2nd pair but I think Hanifin will have a similar career. Both are great offensively, both not good enough defensively to be true 1st pair D.
Flames should just keep him, Valimaki missed the entire season last year, Kylington/Nesterov are 3rd pair D right now and MacKey/Poolman haven't played yet. Tanev isn't a guy that will be able to carry them.