TJ Brodie has taken his game to a whole new level

[Geeoff]

I don't think he has Niedermayer's offensive upside. He's more like a grittier, clutch-scoring Bouwmesster.

[FlameZilla]

Brodie reminds me of Paul Coffey, but better because he doesn't have that Oilers stank all over him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I wouldn't be adverse to keeping Brodie and Engelland together next season. That would make finding a partner for Gio a priority but it could balance our defence better over three pairings...

Yeah, I've been thinking about this as well. Schlemko with Giordano? The Captain honestly looks like he could play with anyone, and Schlemko moves really well. If they can play together, that could make for a pretty balanced top six:

Giordano · Schlemko?
Brodie · Engelland
Russell · Wideman

[nfotiu]

I think a lot of credit needs to go to Hartley here as well. He really uses in defensemen well and has really taken advantage of the speed of guys like Brodie. They've made a huge impact offensive, and rarely get burnt. The way they utilize their d has made them pretty effective trap busters, and is key to why they've had so much success in coming back in games when the other team tries to go into shutdown mode.

[Poe969]

I know I took some flack over this but I honestly really like the pairing of TJ and England and would look at keeping them together and maybe only play TJ and Gio together on the PP. TJ is still playing amazing and is by far the best defensemen in the series but he's elevated England's game a ton, I mean so much so that England's contract doesn't look that bad.

If another defensemen steps up next year or we pick up another defender, we'd have an amazing 3 pairs in Gio-New Guy, Russell-Wideman, TJ-England. This team's D is going to be it's strength moving forward.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Yeah, I've been thinking about this as well. Schlemko with Giordano? The Captain honestly looks like he could play with anyone, and Schlemko moves really well. If they can play together, that could make for a pretty balanced top six:

Giordano · Schlemko?
Brodie · Engelland
Russell · Wideman

I think that could work. And some pedigree too:

Undrafted - Undrafted
4th round - 6th round
3rd round - 8th round

Personally, I would probably stick with:

Giordano - Brodie
Russell - Wideman
Schlemko - Engelland

But it's good to have options, and it's also nice to see that people can finally see what Engelland is capable of. He was signed to add grit to the defense and boy-oh-boy has he done that in spades, plus he can play hockey pretty adequately.

[icarus]

It's already begun now out of necessity but next season we should be working Wotherspoon into the lineup in which case we might not need to be targetting UFA dmen this off-season, given the high premium on them in recent years of which Engelland is just one example.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Soliak

Bob has him playing on the top pairing with Engy and third pairing with Schlemko. Big minutes in a high pressure situation and he is succeeding. Couldn't ask for more.

The Niedermayer comparisons are on point too. What a skater he is, so smooth.

yeah, our top d pairing has been Russell - Wideman for more than a month now.

[temple5]

If there is a silver lining to the Gio injury; its watching TJ Brodie grow into someone who could easily anchor his own pairing.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Undrafted - Undrafted
4th round - 6th round
3rd round - 8th round

This is incredible.

[Hack&Lube]

Everybody's line-ups keep forgetting that we still have Smid on contract for another year. He is quite serviceable. I think his injury is what hampered his play and caused the team to shut him down for surgery.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Everybody's line-ups keep forgetting that we still have Smid on contract for another year. He is quite serviceable. I think his injury is what hampered his play and caused the team to shut him down for surgery.

I wouldn't be surprised if his career was in jeopardy, though.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Everybody's line-ups keep forgetting that we still have Smid on contract for another year. He is quite serviceable. I think his injury is what hampered his play and caused the team to shut him down for surgery.

I would much rather have Schlemko paired with Engelland and not Smid.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Everybody's line-ups keep forgetting that we still have Smid on contract for another year. He is quite serviceable. I think his injury is what hampered his play and caused the team to shut him down for surgery.

Wasn't there some speculation that Smid's career might actually be in jeopardy?

I like Smid, but I think his spot is going to have some competition next season for sure. I would love to see him make a come back though of course.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Wasn't there some speculation that Smid's career might actually be in jeopardy?

I like Smid, but I think his spot is going to have some competition next season for sure. I would love to see him make a come back though of course.

Yes, there is that concern. And even if he can play, I don't think he can be effective with the concussion problems. For his own sake, he should think hard about it.

[Roof-Daddy]

I hope Smid is healthy, and can have a bounce back season next year, I just hope it happens with another team.

I like him, but IMO there is only room for one of Engelland and Smid on this team, and Engelland has solidified himself on this roster since Gio went down.

The Engelland/Smid pairing was just awful. They are both fine when paired with a more mobile puck mover, but together they are a disaster.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Duncan Keith.

nope Flash got it right, he is play, skating is so fluid, which is how I remember Niedermayer's play. Niedermayer played like a "rover" instead of a D-man, Brodie, and to some extent Russell play the say style.

[The Big Chill]

Brodie is my favourite player to watch on this team. His skating and positional sense are fantastic. It seems like every time there is a loose puck, Brodie is the first one to it. What a great player.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I know I took some flack over this but I honestly really like the pairing of TJ and England and would look at keeping them together and maybe only play TJ and Gio together on the PP. TJ is still playing amazing and is by far the best defensemen in the series but he's elevated England's game a ton, I mean so much so that England's contract doesn't look that bad.

I've been thinking the same thing. As awesome as Brodano is (possibly the best pairing in the league), it really exposes the 3rd pairing and we saw how terrible Engelland paired up with another 6/7 guy is. Leaving Brodie with Engelland and having Gio with Schlemko might not give us that #1 dynamite pairing. But it gives us 3 fantastic defensive pairings.

Giordano · Schlemko
Brodie · Engelland
Russell · Wideman

I think that looks great. Put Brodano back together when you need a big goal or on the PP. But the key in all of this is having Engelland paired with someone who helps him raise his own game. Brodie has done exactly that.

I'd much prefer to have 3 solid pairing instead of just 2 dynamite pairings in the top 4 and a scary bottom pair.

Also wanted to say that the sky's the limit for Brodie. Defensemen often hit their prime much later than forwards. Brodie is only 24 and looks to be improving every year. Look at the rest of our top 4 to see just how good of late bloomers Russell, Gio and Wideman are. What a fantastic contract Brodie's is. Just insane how most of us would have been happy with a 6mil cap hit, and we have him for under 5 and it hasn't even kicked in yet. Unreal.

[rayne008]

Agree 100% with the OP.

Amazing that Brodie's play is actually flying under the radar, as I believe he's been the teams MVP since Gio went down.