Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
If I'm Treliving I'm moving Brodie, but not for the reason you'd expect.
Brodie has been part of this rebuilding core that has struggled to rise to the occasion mentally. While I will admit that Hamonic didn't have a great playoff series this year, it is MacKinnon and co. so I'll give him a small pass. In years past, Hamonic has reliably risen to the occasion in big games and playoffs. Brodie hasn't done so since 2014.
I think Brodie's issues are mostly mental, as his physical gifts haven't diminished much over the years. It's not so much a problem of "oops, I made a mistake", because all players do that, even Giordano. The problem is that when he makes a mistake or something goes wrong, his game entirely falls apart and you have to drop him down to the 3rd pairing to shelter him until he figures it out. Sometimes that takes a game, sometimes it takes weeks. Hamonic may make mistakes or have bad games, but he doesn't get down and he keeps battling to the end.
But more so, Brodie seems to struggle in big games when the pressure is on. It's a symptom that has been part of this core group for a while now and it doesn't seem to be getting better. We knew that a shake up was going to happen to the core of this team, and it only makes sense that Brodie and his mental fragility would be the most likely to go. Replace him with Andersson who doesn't have his mobility, but also doesn't get rattled and can elevate his game when asked, and you're already doing better.
However, if a Hamonic trade also gives you a good return and cap flexibility, then do it too. I love Hamonic's style of game, but I've learned not to fall too much in love with role players over the years. The only problem with moving Hamonic is that we don't have a prospect who can play that style of game, so you would hope the return involves a young d-man who can play a strong physical defensive game.
So I guess what I'm saying is you can, and possibly should, move both. I'd start with Brodie, but Hamonic can be had as well. Then you let the kids run with it and possibly make a trade near the deadline if needed to shore up the defense.
Start next year with:
Giordano-Andersson
Valimaki-Hanifin
Kylington-Stone
I'm good with that group. I just hope someone can learn to play on their off-side.
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While I generally agree that the Flames's issues in the playoffs were almost entirely psychological, it is a fool's errand from our vantage point attempting to isolate those players who are "mentally fragile" from those who are not. How is it you absolve Giordano from the same symptoms when his own playoff track record is arguably worse than Brodie's?
I am neither arguing against the ideas that the team needs to be more psychologically prepared for the playoffs, nor that Giordano is in fact part of the problem; rather, that while we can see what the problem is in broad strokes, from our perspective as fans we don't know how to fix it without having any real insight into which players are actually "mentally fragile," and which ones are less so. We do not.
I won't be surprised to see one of Brodie or Hamonic traded this summer, but I cannot imagine the Flames will move both. As much promise as the young guys have shown, it may be too much too soon.