Radko Gudas

[FLYguy3911]

How good has this guy been this year?

He may not be the most fundamentally sound defenseman in the league, but the guy just gets it done. I know he only has one point, but something will give sooner or later (I'll blame MDZ). He leads our defensemen in shot attempts at ES and his possession numbers are pretty good. The presence and attitude he brings to the back-end really gives this team a jolt. He's not a fun guy to play against.

When we first acquired him I was pretty excited he was included as a secondary piece. I thought he was a solid player in his first and only full season in TB. Many posters were very vocal about Gudas' limitations (calling him worse than Schenn) and I'm just not seeing it. He moves a lot better than most people gave him credit for. He can handle the puck a little bit and he's a pretty good outlet passer. The only knock really is the penalties, but that comes with the territory.

You can make an argument he's better than Coburn this season on his own. Consider the fact that he's younger, under control for likely a couple more seasons, and comes at a fraction of the cost and that trade's looking pretty good right now.

Thoughts?

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[BringBackHakstol]

I think he's played great. Hope we retain him as he should be a great 3rd pairing or decent 2nd pairing guy for the kids.

 

[Curufinwe]

He will never be a top 4 dman on the Flyers.

Nev-er.

 

[Rebels57]

Gudas has been awesome. He and MDZ have been our best dman by a longshot.

What an insanely great trade by Hextall

Cap relief, 1st round pick used to trade up and draft Konecny and Gudas for Coburn. Unreal.

 

[Rebels57]

He will never be a top 4 dman on the Flyers.

Nev-er.

Meanwhile he's playing on the top pair..and playing well. I think the fear he strikes in opponents helps balance out his recklessness.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

He will never be a top 4 dman on the Flyers.

Nev-er.

I can see him being a serviceable #4 on a young D for us over the next year or two.

 

[bennysflyers16]

I like him , a lot better than how some had described him before he got here.

 

[Curufinwe]

Dime a dozen player, slower than Luke Schenn, less valuable than Emerson Etem, only a 6/7...

 

[onlylordsvsmorebp]

hes everything i was hoping we were going to get...solid dman that sticks up for his teammates and hits like a runaway truck. hes better than advertised if anything.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

perfectly happy with the role he fills and plays..

resign him..

take him 11/10 over Manning thats for godam sure

 

[Tripod]

Reviews were that he was slow and that the injury might make him slower.

But I rarely see his skating leading to odd man rushes or scoring chances against. He rarely finds himself in a foot race heading back toward our end.

My only issue is that he seems to shoot into the shin pads a lot.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Dime a dozen player, slower than Luke Schenn, less valuable than Emerson Etem, only a 6/7...

I'm confused.
Do you actually think these things ?

 

[Curufinwe]

No, those were just some of the laughable exaggerations leveled at Gudas after the trade was made. The Coburn trade thread is comedy gold.

 

[Jack de la Hoya]

Skating is better than advertised, as is his positional play.

I still think he's a good third pairing guy at most on a contender, but I underestimated him before, so who knows.

 

[TheKingPin]

I like him , a lot better than how some had described him before he got here.

Agreed. I was expecting something a little different. He seems to be a very serviceable dman.

I'd like to keep him, ghost and med. trade the rest and replace with sanhiem, Provo, and morin.

 

[onlylordsvsmorebp]

Agreed. I was expecting something a little different. He seems to be a very serviceable dman.

I'd like to keep him, ghost and med. trade the rest and replace with sanhiem, Provo, and morin.

obviously ghost isnt going anywhere but sure hope we keep gudas and med as well.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

wasnt sure what we were going to get with Gudas but there are obviously no complaints. good hitter and always willing to stick up for his teammates.
cant ask for more than that with a 3rd pairing guy.

 

[KrazyKat]

Del Zotto--Gudas
Medvedev--Provorov
Sanheim--Gostisbehere

Next year?

 

[flyersfan018]

The way people were talking after the trade made it seem like we just acquired Nicklas Grossmann. He's been a pleasant surprise.

 

[dats81]

As far as the Luke Schenn comparison goes... Gudas is more mobile, a better puck handler, more positionally sound and pound by pound a better hitter.

He is kind of a Chris Therien type in the sense you can put him on the first pairing as a complementaty piece and he won't panic playing against the toplines of the league.

 

[Striiker]

He's been great this year, better than Schenn in every single way and also far less expensive.

People said his skating was worse than Schenn's but that's not even close to true, his speed hasn't been an issue at all this year.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

He's been great this year, better than Schenn in every single way and also far less expensive.

People said his skating was worse than Schenn's but that's not even close to true, his speed hasn't been an issue at all this year.

His "poor" skating was blown way out of proportion. I hadn't seen much of him at all before he was traded and the way people were talking was making it seem like he had cement feet. He's not exactly a burner or anything, but his speed has been perfectly adequate.

 

[bungle]

He's an improvement over LSchenn in every department. He also plays with an edge without being the liability that Rinaldo was - just needs to make sure he doesn't get himself the same kind of rep.

 

[Prongo]

From the day of the trade I was saying he was a better option than Luke Schenn. I was going back and forth with whoever that was that was so adamant about him being a worse player. I always liked Gudas and still think he is and can be a serviceable 2nd pairing dman paired with an offensive guy

 

[sa cyred]

I really thought he has looked good also. Truely. I always liked him, and acknowledge the fact we need a crease clearer on the back end, as long as they can move the puck and aren't super slow. I don't see those problems with him.

I think in the future, he fits perfectly as that #5 "vet" defenseman who you can move up into the top 4 when injuries occur.