Who is more valuable to the flames?

[flamesforcup]

Johnny hockey and Tj Brodie, the flames best dman and best forward. Who in your opinion is more valuable to our team right now?

[Robo]

I honestly can't choose

[hockey.modern]

[nik-]

yeah this is a hard one. They're both so critical to offense/defense.

TJ Brodie changed the team more when he was gone though, so I pick him by a sliver.

[Poe969]

Johnny. Brodie is amazing but Johnny is a top 10 scorer. Without Johnny the Flames would have no offence. The team has a few good defenders but no one can come close to Johnny up front.

[PepsiFree]

Brodie.

Johnny is incredibly entertaining to watch but you would have a harder time replacing the overall impact Brodie has on the whole team. He's so complete.

[Roof-Daddy]

Option #3 = Tie

[dammage79]

Gaudreau. he points keep on coming. Love Brodie though. This was a good Poll. Tough choice.

[Corral]

TJ Brodie. Wonder why the Penguins have only one Stanley Cup with the best forward in the game .... think Niedermayer, Lidstrom, Chara, Doughty X2, Keith X3

[dissentowner]

The fact we have Gio and Dougie back there makes this an easy choice.

[StrykerSteve]

Brodie. Flames played like crap while he was out, played fine while Johnny was out.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Corral

TJ Brodie. Wonder why the Penguins have only one Stanley Cup with the best forward in the game .... think Niedermayer, Lidstrom, Chara, Doughty X2, Keith X3

I can't say I disagree.

But I still went with Gaudreau. He is the new face of the franchise and has the type of skill that makes other players better and can attract talent to the team.

But I do agree that top defensemen win championships.

[Timbo]

It's like choosing between breathing or blood flow if either stops you die. One might just be a quicker death than the other. But either way you lose.

[Poe969]

Originally Posted by Corral

TJ Brodie. Wonder why the Penguins have only one Stanley Cup with the best forward in the game .... think Niedermayer, Lidstrom, Chara, Doughty X2, Keith X3

All those teams had at least one pure offensive player like Johnny on them. Winning teams need a #1 guy but they also need someone to leed the team up front. Having Gio and Hamilton but no one else like Johnny make Johnny more valuable IMO.

[PaperBagger'14]

I picked Gaudreau but it wasn't easy. The team noticeably went downhill without Brodie, however I felt that we would have been worse off losing Johnny for that period.

[Corral]

Gio and Hamilton are good Dmen - they are not elite. TJ Brodie has shown elite potential for several years now - he's slick and confident on the ice - and at 25 years old is about to hit his prime stretch - IMO he's the reason the Flames made the playoffs last year. Don't get me wrong, Goudreau is a difference maker in the offensive end - but if I HAD to move one of them it would be JG for sure.

[AcGold]

Johnny by a sliver. Brodie is an excellent player but he's just a tad too small to be a great shut down player. Brodie brings offensive ability but Johnny brings way more. This team without Johnny is dead last this year.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Really close call. But overall defensemen are slightly more valuable as they play a higher percentage of the game with there only being 3 lines of d-men vs 4 lines of forwards. A good d-men can be influencing the game for almost 1/2 the game. Most forwards don't play more than 1/3 of the game. I vote Brodie.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The fact we have Gio and Dougie back there makes this an easy choice.

Remember the start of the season when we had those 2 guys? Maybe some extenuating circumstances but we had neither player at the end of last year too. I think Brodie but it's a tough call.

[Jiggy_12]

So hard to pick between these two. Went with Gaudreau in the end but had some back and forth before picking. Surprised the current results aren't closer to 50/50.