Brandon Hagel

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Hagel is definitely not a better player than Nylander and I’m the biggest leafs hater on God’s green earth

I'm taking Hagel 10/10 times.

I think he meant Alex Nylander, who was also part of the Sabres 2016 draft class.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

He's amazing. What a player

 

[FlyguyOX]

I think he meant Alex Nylander, who was also part of the Sabres 2016 draft class.

Better than both regardless.

 

[Toby91ca]

59 points in 56 games that season. Maybe he didn't "blow the doors off", but he was ~ a point per game.

For a 19 year old with NHL aspirations, point per game while playing junior is pretty bad.

 

[FinnLightning26]

How do Lightning fans feel about the shocking trade that nabbed him for two first-rounders (and more)? I know it may seem like an obvious one given his stats of the last three years, but as an Avs fan I mostly remember him being invisible in the 2022 playoffs and thinking that the Bolts didn't get a lot of bang for the buck to support their threepeat. Not hating the player, I just think it's an interesting case of a win-now/keep-it-going dilemma.

I would do that trade again any day of the week and 100 times on Sunday. He played those playoffs with a broken foot, was still a lot more inexperienced than he is now and was tasked with shutdown duties if I remember correctly. He's gotten better every year he's been here and he's still improving.

You would be lucky if you got a guy like Hagel with either of those picks and most likely you wouldn't. Probably my favourite player to watch on the team after Kucherov.

 

[BKarchitect]

He was already excellent in Chicago. Traded for two firsts…all you need to know about him and his development there. Just didn’t fit the timeline, unfortunately. Sorry to see him go, miss frequently watching him play, and very happy he’s doing great in Tampa. Great trade for both teams.

Exactly. Hagel was already looking damn good in Chicago and on an upward trajectory. This level is past what was been expected but he was a huge value even at the time given his growth and contract which still had an extra absolute bargain year left.

What's funny is you can go dig up that trade thread and 90% of HFB was outraged that Tampa gave up two 1st rounders for "LULZ wut is a Hagel durrrrr".

 

[Evergreen]

Better question is why didn’t Chicago keep him? He’d be perfect on Bedard’s wing. I think the Hawks burned things down a tad too much and put Bedard in a position where he’s relied upon too heavily for a first/second year undersized player.