Brodie or Hamonic?

[TheScorpion]

Two pending UFA late-20s defensemen who play the right side. One, a lifelong Flame, the other, a prized offseason acquisition. Both have been counted on by the Flames' coaching staff to play huge minutes and have found degrees of success in certain circumstances. Both have also had off years recently. The Flames' current cap situation likely prevents them from keeping both.

TJ Brodie and Travis Hamonic. Who should stay, and why?

(Mods, if we can have a poll with the following options:

1. TJ Brodie should stay
2. Travis Hamonic should stay
3. The Flames should make room and sign both
4. Sign neither, and promote from within to replace them
5. Sign neither, and acquire some other defenseman to replace them

[SuperMatt18]

1) But only if Brodie doesn't get a NMC and the term/$$$ aren't too crazy. Need to be able to expose him in the expansion draft.

[Harry Lime]

Trade Hamonic, and let Brodie walk in the off-season.

I would like to keep Brodie, but there is no way that he would accept a contract term that would work for the team. I'd be willing to overpay by 1M to bring down the term to four years, but I would think that this is Brodie's "cash in" contract and he will look for a six year term.

[Toonage]

A combo of 4 & 5

Signing Ras to his deal more or less sealed the fate of Brodie.

Hamonic sounds like he's choosing to not be here.

[djsFlames]

I'll get a #1 combo, lifetime Flame with fries thanks.

[stang]

Stupid question, and i haven’t watched many Flames games this year,

But don’t Brodie and Gio work very well together? Have they been put back together?

[Insufficient Funds]

Originally Posted by stang

Stupid question, and i haven’t watched many Flames games this year,

But don’t Brodie and Gio work very well together? Have they been put back together?

They've been together most of the season and yes they play well together for the most part.

Andersson has been put with Gio off and on and they don't miss a beat. This is generally when they want to get Stone into a game so they sit Kylington and put Brodie with stone and move Andersson up with Gio.

I say sign Brodie and trade Hamonic. Put Andersson fulltime with Hanifin.

[GreenLantern2814]

Brodie is a better player by several dozen light years. I've been a fan since he made the team, and I strongly believe that he's going to have an excellent back half of his career. It'd be great to retain him, but it may not be possible.

I'm at the point with this group that I'm willing to make major moves across the board. I think this franchise has had an obsession with overstacking their blue line since Chicago fed them their lunch in 2009, and they need to break themselves of it.

Gio, Rasmus, Hanifin, OK and Vali is not the greatest blue line ever assembled, but I don't want a coach who can't make the playoffs without that top-5. It's perfectly acceptable.

Put the money you save on defense into an elite forward. The goaltending is fine. If you're potentially trading Johnny, that gives flexibility as well.

This would be less murky without expansion. As it stands, Seattle probably forces the Flames to let both explore UFA.

[Vinny01]

Keep Brodie at the right price. Trade Hamonic

[Toonage]

Brodie & Gio generally work very well together.

But the Flames are going to want to add forwards and will only have so much money to work with (all IMO).

Paying Gio $6.75M, Hanifin $5M, Ras $4.5M and then wanting to give Brodie or Hamonic at least $5M+ isn't going to work.

And you can't shoehorn a "they'll take a discount" argument in here because we just don't know.

[undercoverbrother]

How is Valimaki's rehab coming along?

[flamesforcup]

I love Brodie and he is a life-long Flames player. People are underestimating how much we would miss him going forward. Gio is getting old and if he starts declining hard we would be screwed without Brodie. I would be willing to give him a longer term deal at 6 million front loaded. Some people might not like it but even 6 mill is cheap for a UFA top 3 Defensemen with great skating whose under 30.

[flamesforcup]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Brodie & Gio generally work very well together.

But the Flames are going to want to add forwards and will only have so much money to work with (all IMO).

Paying Gio $6.75M, Hanifin $5M, Ras $4.5M and then wanting to give Brodie or Hamonic at least $5M+ isn't going to work.

And you can't shoehorn a "they'll take a discount" argument in here because we just don't know.

Depending on Valimaki's health i wouldnt be opposed to trading Hanifin for some forward help. However that could be risky as we dont know if Kylingtons ready to take his spot. Im confident Andy can take Hamonics spot so im not to worried about losing Hamonic.

[djsFlames]

Brodie just has tools that make him an x factor in any given game.

He's a special player when he's skating and seeing the ice. And lately he's been above average defensively. If you feel he and Gio have another special year or two as a pair in them (and they've had a few) then I think you've got to retain TJ and benefit.

[GioforPM]

For me, a poll would be too simplistic. Money is a huge factor - what does each guy want? Expansion is a pretty big one. Trade value is a big factor - who can you best use to get value for the team? Replacement on the team is a big factor. I really wish I knew what Valimaki's future holds, and that there was a better chance to evaluate him post-injury. I also wish I'd seen Hanifin play with Andersson some, since I think Andersson has the game that's closest to Hamonic's (and is better in many ways). If you could go Gio/Brodie; Hanifin/Andersson; Kylington/Valimaki/Stone that's OK by me. But I have no ideas if Hanifin and Andersson have chemistry.

[Gaskal]

Brodie at this point by a country kilometer.

This season he elevates the fancy stats of every defence partner he plays with, and the groan-worthy mistakes from last year seem to have all but disappeared. Hamonic has been trending in the opposite direction on both fronts.

The league is gearing more towards speed, transition and skating over meat & potatoes stay-at-home defenders... so really, the writing was on the wall the entire time.

[GranteedEV]

Brodie. He's a dynamic top pair player with outstanding gap control and creativity.

Hamonic is already playing at the level of a bottom pair defenseman. The game is too fast for him to defend.

[dammage79]

Brodie. Signed to match the duration of Gios contract and re negotiated on a yearly basis until Gio is done.

[Erick Estrada]

I would trade Hamonic at the deadline if Valimaki is progressing to return prior to the end of the season. This team needs to stock up on it's prospect base and he should fetch a high pick(s). I don't think he's close to worth what he can make in free agency. I would hold on to Brodie and offer him a few contract scenarios where he can opt for more money or more term with nothing over 4 maybe 5 years. If his expectations are to cash in big maybe see if there's any teams interested in trading for his rights and move on from both and keep the cap space. Sometimes the best move is to not get caught up in what's usually a regretful July 1st week for a lot of teams, let go, and move on.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I would trade Hamonic at the deadline if Valimaki is progressing to return prior to the end of the season. This team needs to stock up on it's prospect base and he should fetch a high pick(s). I don't think he's close to worth what he can make in free agency. I would hold on to Brodie and offer him a few contract scenarios where he can opt for more money or more term with nothing over 4 maybe 5 years. If his expectations are to cash in big maybe see if there's any teams interested in trading for his rights and move on from both and keep the cap space. Sometimes the best move is to not get caught up in what's usually a regretful July 1st week for a lot of teams, let go, and move on.

I agree. Perhaps Hamonic can be a part of that ‘hockey trade’ for a signed asset the Flames are looking for. At the start of the year I would have said trade Brodie, keep Hammer. But Now, Brodie > Hammer.