What to do with T.J. Brodie...

[Manhattanboy]

Trade him.

[Stay Golden]

Trade Brodie for a Physical hard nosed D. The Flames desperately lack in that department.

[NewFan]

I would trade Hamilton before Brodie. Then put Brodie with Gio.

[TheOnlyBilko]

Trade him for a younger offensive player. Trade him to Arizona for Dylan Strome

[Gaskal]

That play where Brodie scored into his own net was so avoidable. Any other defenceman would have just let Rittich handle the puck and made sure to ride Lucic out of the play (as he already had body position on Looch).

His head's clearly not following the play properly for whatever reason and he's experiencing bad tunnel vision out on the ice. It's just getting increasingly more frustrating over time watching him shoot himself in the foot over and over again and seeing this team choke away games because of it.

[Flamefan1]

Just got home from the game and my biggest concern was Hamilton's play. He seems to play with no emotion and I thought he coughed up the puck or was getting beat to the puck all night.Often it looks like he puts no effort into his play.

[camm13]

Originally Posted by NewFan

I would trade Hamilton before Brodie. Then put Brodie with Gio.

Great idea! Let's trade Brodie for a guy who has 1 nhl goal/ assist and 12 games of experience!

[Corral]

Originally Posted by Flamefan1

Just got home from the game and my biggest concern was Hamilton's play. He seems to play with no emotion and I thought he coughed up the puck or was getting beat to the puck all night.Often it looks like he puts no effort into his play.

Some of us have been saying this for a couple years now. But so much love for Dougie here. I get that he can be really good at times in the offensive zone, but he is NOT an excellent defenseman. Without Giordano as his wingman, he would look quite average on the blueline.

[1991 Canadian]

Put him back with Gio.

For about a two year stretch, Gio-Brodie was an elite pairing. I've never felt the same way about Gio-Hamilton. I know we'll all focus on the recent stretch of poor play by Brodie, but there was times when he was elite. There were times when we were upset he wasn't being considered for Team Canada. I've never got that same vibe with Hamilton.

What do you have to lose by giving that a try? Gio is steady regardless. Hamilton can't make a play to save his life. Hamonic has been underwhelming. Who knows, maybe Hamonic and Hamilton will fit together.

I get the logic of the L-R defence pairings in most situations. But Brodie excelled on his off side. He is arguably better on the backhand than on the forehand.

The Flames had an elite pairing in Brodie-Gio. They acquired Hamilton in a steal of a deal. The move should have been to find a top 4 D to play with Hamilton, not Brodie.

[browna]

Agree with the short term retrial of Gio and Brodie.
I think Hamonic is fine, a solid defenseman and needs to be given the benefit of the doubt for longer than 2 months, nevermind we don’t know what coaching he is getting.

The rejig will plainly tell if Hamilton’s going to sink or swim with someone other then the under rated Gio who puts it out there every night himself.

And if Hamilton sinks, off to Buffalo with you and Freddie.

[Kybb79]

Dougie needs a reality check by a hard nosed coach. GG will never do it.

[1991 Canadian]

I'm more concerned about Hamilton at this point. It's odd. His advanced stats and regular stats look really good. He's on pace for another 40 point season. His corsi for percentage is the highest it has ever been as a Flame.

I feel like fans of teams that don't watch the Flames regularly would love to have Dougie on their team. 40 plus points a year. 24 years old. 5.75 million contract for 4 more years. 6'5". Great advanced stats.

This my breakdown of Dougie Hamilton with the puck in his own end of the ice:
25%: Has time > breakout pass to the forwards knees/out of reach > ends up as an icing
25%: Has time > holds on to the puck too long > telegraphs pass to opposing forwards > interception
25%: Gets forechecked hard > coughs up the puck
20%: Has time > Makes a solid outlet pass / the forwards are skilled enough to accept his errant pass
5%: Gets forechecked hard > Makes a solid outlet pass / the forwards are skilled enough to accept his errant pass

That breakdown is not meant to be taken entirely seriously, but Hamiltons forced and unforced giveaways are higher than any other dman on the team. It is frustrating because he has the physical tools to be a lot better.

Maybe my perceptions/memory is off, but I remember Gio-Brodie being called one of the best pairings in the league. I remember people having a debate over whether Brodie was better than Gio. I don't get nearly the same vibe with Hamilton-Gio. I think everyone is an agreement that Gio is a better defenceman than Hamilton. To me, that is very telling that there hasn't even been a debate.

IMO, Brodie has shown he has the potential to be a top pairing defenceman with Gio. I haven't ever felt that way about Hamilton, even on the stretches when he's rolling in points.

[dammage79]

The steps to Brodies recovery:
Step 1. Back to Stone where he felt comfortable after what, 5 games with him before they took off and actually functioned like a good paring?
Step 2. If that doesn't work, Back to the right side and back with Gio. If all else fails, help Stella get her groove back.
Step 3: Trade him and never speak of 2017/18.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I left this in the PGT, but I see this thread now:

In December, a month before we traded for Hagelin, Daley’s name kept coming up in our office. I had really admired his game when he was in Dallas. He was fast, strong and great on the breakout. When the Blackhawks traded for him, I thought it was a good fit.
But, for some reason, Daley was really struggling in Chicago.
So our team had a mini meeting, and we did what we always do. We watched him.
The problem jumped out at me right away. Trevor was on the left side of the TV screen.
Trevor is lefthanded. Chicago was playing him on the left side.
Most people watching would think, “So what? Isn’t that his natural side?”
It is. Most defensemen like playing on their natural side, so that when their defensive partner passes the puck “D-to-D” behind the net, they can catch the puck on their forehand.
But I knew from my box that Trevor actually liked to play on his off-side. He played on the right side in Dallas. Watching him in Chicago, you could tell he was uncomfortable on breakouts.
On the ice, he wasn’t in the best position to succeed.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/ji...ut-being-a-gm/

Remember how good Brodie was 2 years ago? Really remember how good he was. Now, in your honest opinion, how much is that player worth on the trade market? 2 firsts?

I doubt many would have been happy to trade Brodie back then for two first round picks - what would be the chances you get a player as good as Brodie? How many years of development?

Look, this isn't just Brodie. I think Giordano is the ONLY consistently good defencemen, and I think he has carrying Hamilton right now too. Hamonic is playing poorly. Stone has his ups and downs. I won't even count the rotating 6th D.

This team is playing consistently atrocious defence, interspersed with games that make you think they are coming around. Before you trade a Brodie or Hamilton, you make a coaching change.

Just because you have gone through a bunch of coaches doesn't mean that isn't the problem. Flames have gone through a bunch of goalies too, so I guess Hiller wasn't a problem? I guess the Flames should have stuck with Elliott?

The Flames are not improving. They are outside of the playoffs right now, sitting in the 5th worst position in the west, with the 9th worst GA in the entire league, and they are not improving defensively. All of this while having a legitimately strong goalie playing almost every single game and rarely allowing a poor goal.

I have made up my mind on what needs to be changed, and I would gamble that Brodie and the rest of the defencemen are not the problem.

[Jetfire]

GG's player usage:

[NiklasSundblad]

If Glen Gulutzan is so hardheaded that he won't look at the one big change he made that basically ruined Brodie and maybe try putting him back on the right side, well, might as well trade him for whatever and give up, because it doesn't matter what we get in return if the coach can't figure out how to use a player to the best of their potential. Might as well make Troy Brouwer the backup goalie too.

The thing about obvious things, is that they're obvious. GG seems to think he's too smart for reality.

[Resolute 14]

Fire the idiot coach that insists on playing him on his weak side and hope that a competent coach can rebuild him.

The other option is trading at low value.

[killer_carlson]

Shuffle the d pairings

[GirlySports]

Depends what style of game this stubborn coach wants to play.

If he insists on trying to grinding out 2-1 games then Brodie should be traded.
If he lets the team run and gun and win/lose 8-6 games then Brodie is perfect.

Flames should just run and gun. Team is built to score 6 goals a game, not prevent 3.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by blender

Simple.
Take him off the PP.
I honestly believe that will solve a lot of the Flames problems.

The PP is the only time the guy should be on the ice.