And the Cubs win the World Series
- WhirlingDervish

I was in wrigleyville for game 7 it was nuts

Ok but he's averaging 14 seconds on the PP per game this season.

The point being contested was that Gudas cannot be a #2/3 if and when we are a Cup caliber team. And that he can't be a "top pairing" d without playing on the PP. And yet look at recent Cup teams and their "top pairing" guys. Guys like Dumoulin, Hjalmarsson, even Hamonic and Tanev looking further. They don't have to be superstars. It's not about being a top line talent; it's about what happens on the ice. They just have to be very effective and have top pair results and compliment well. If a player plays top pair minutes and produces top pair results...but then they're not actually good enough to play on a top pair? It's a logical leap I can't make.

It's not like Gudas couldn't play some PP2 on a weaker PP team. Flyers just so happen to have an already elite PP with some guys named Ghost, Streit, Provorov, and Sanheim and Myers coming. Unheard of depth to push players down is a good thing. Plus, I don't think some people actually look at rosters league wide. Paul Martin and Justin Braun are on the Sharks' 2 top pairings. That's a Cup caliber team. And Gudas is better than both. It's just some arbitrary concoction.
- Mononoke

If Gudas is better than Paul Martin, it's because Martin is long passed the prime of his career when he was leaps and bounds better than Radko Gudas.

pairings themselves are largely semantic. a guy on your second pairing may be better than a guy on your first. if gudas is your overall best defenseman, i think that team will be hard pressed to win a cup. however, i see no reason why he couldnt be on one of the top 2 pairings and the team be just fine if other things are in place. its not like you're logging top 4 minutes with deryk engelland.
- stayinthefnnet

Of course Gudas could be on the top 2 pairings on a top team, nobody has said any differently, despite what you're being told.

If Gudas is better than Paul Martin, it's because Martin is long passed the prime of his career when he was leaps and bounds better than Radko Gudas.
- SuperSchennBros