Prime Giroux vs Prime Briere

[sr edler]

Greatest Flyers forward ever ever is Bobby Clarke, no contest.

Then Lindros (despite all the injuries and drama)

Then comes (in no particular order) Propp, Giroux, Kerr, MacLeish, LeClair, Recchi, Leach, Barber.

Then Mike Richards has his own peculiar tier.

Then there are guys like Carter, Briere, Renberg, Poulin, Gagne.






Ville Leino is here somewhere.

 

[Big Phil]

And there is a reason for it. Can you imagine healthy Lindros not being picked for a Canada national team? Hell, he was selected in 1991 over Yzerman!

Giroux has never sniffed the level of Lindros.

No, he hasn't ever been at the level of a prime Lindros. On a per game basis Lindros has him beat without even blinking. No GM in NHL history passes on Lindros. That would be silly. But we are talking about a full career here. Giroux is in his 11th year as a Flyer while Lindros had 8 with so many injury riddled seasons in there. You always have to say Lindros WOULD have had better seasons if not for injuries. Eventually you have to look at the value that player brings. Is a guy valuable if he plays 55-60 games a year? Only if he's Mario Lemieux and still wins the scoring title, but Lindros wasn't at that level either.

Remember, Giroux is only 30. He just finished a season where he was 2nd in scoring, 4th in Hart voting and was a 2nd team all-star. I get the feeling there is a lot left for him to do. On a per game basis, yes, there is no question about it Lindros wins here but we aren't talking about a per game basis. We are talking about who will end up with the better Flyers' career overall.

 

[Sentinel]

"Better career"? Yeah, most likely. "Better player"? Lindros, all day, any day. "Greater player"? Lindros still. Lindros was, in fact, an all-time great player (with a bunch of asterisks). Giroux was and remains an excellent player (although his playoff history is not even as good as otherwise inferior Briere), but never an all time great.

Anyway, we understand each other.