Bobby Orr vs any other Dman, who would you draft?

[KevinRedkey]

In the spirit of the Brodeur vs Hasek poll (credit to Mirka the Turka), I thought this would be an interesting one.

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[jigglysquishy]

If your goal is to win championships, Orr gives you 6-8 years with a really strong chance.

Peak on peak, best player ever.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I'll take 8 years of Orr over 20 years of any other defender in history.

I'll even go as far as to say Gretzky is the only player that could tempt me to not pick Orr

 

[HugeInTheShire]

For me even though Orr is the best one here, I'd take either over him. Since I have to only pick one I'll take the 1000 extra games of Bourque over the better player in Orr and IMO he just edges out Lidstrom overall.

Changed my answer to Orr, as it was pointed out that today they'd be able to fix Orrs' knees.

 

[dgibb10]

I'll take 8 years of Orr over 20 years of any other defender in history.

I'll even go as far as to say Gretzky is the only player that could tempt me to not pick Orr

How many wins do you think having Bobby Orr adds in a season vs how many Lidstrom or Bourque adds in a season?

 

[dgibb10]

If your goal is to win championships, Orr gives you 6-8 years with a really strong chance.

Peak on peak, best player ever.

If your goal is to win a championship, your best bet is getting 20+ years of a guy and as many legitimate chances at winning as possible.

 

[Bank Shot]

Orr.

If you are drafting him today, you can probably get his knees fixed.

 

[BLNY]

Aki Berg. Clearly.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

Orr.

If you are drafting him today, you can probably get his knees fixed.

Didn't think of this, I'm changing my answer.

 

[Albatros]

Lidström. 20 years of excellence resulting in four cups for the team that drafted him.

Orr won two cups for the best team in one of the weakest eras in league history, certainly post-WWII.

 

[Canovin]

Give me the guy who won 4 cups. That's what 20 years will give you vs 8 years

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Orr.

If you are drafting him today, you can probably get his knees fixed.

More than probably. His knees are a basic arthroscopic surgery today. He'd miss the offseason and a month or so at worst

 

[JackSlater]

I don't get whether you get their careers as they happened, or you are just drafting one. If you get their careers I'd take Orr but I can certainly understand drafting Bourque for the career value. If you are just drafting one then no one has any argument against Orr.

 

[blundluntman]

Pretty interesting question assuming Orr still ends up retiring at age 26, otherwise it's a no brainer. 9 Years of Bobby Orr is almost invaluable and can genuinely transform your franchise, but you still have to have a good enough surrounding cast to get the job done in that window. McDavid for example is about to start his 10th season and still is chasing his first cup .

With that being said, you also have Bourque who was phenomenal and had insane longevity for 20 years in Boston but still never won a cup. More time doesn't always mean enough time at the end of the day.

As a GM: I'd probably take Bourque because I wouldn't have to worry about losing my job after 9 years if my team fell off a cliff. (Lidstrom would be a great pick as well but Bourque was slightly better IMO)
As a fan: with nothing to lose, I'd rather have my team draft Orr for those 9 years. He really was that good.

 

[Killer Orcas]

Orr for me sure the others played much longer but they aren't close to Orr's peak. Not taking anything away form Ray and Nic but they aren't ever discussed as being on the top 4 which they shouldn't be.

 

[MeHateHe]

I'd take Orr over - roughly - half the defencemen currently in the league. Great hands, great hockey IQ. But the guy's nearly 70 now and his knees are shot, so that would drop him down in the draft order.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Give me the guy who was basically McDavid but a defenseman.

 

[Xirik]

Draft me Scott Stevens so I can see people meltdown about him.

 

[NyQuil]

Draft me Scott Stevens so I can see people meltdown about him.

I'm sure the New Jersey fans would meltdown if you passed over Bobby Orr to get Scott Stevens.

 

[Xirik]

I'm sure the New Jersey fans would meltdown if you passed over Bobby Orr to get Scott Stevens.

Boohoo?

Do you run your opinion by every Sens fan before you post so you don't hurt their feelings?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If your goal is to win a championship, your best bet is getting 20+ years of a guy and as many legitimate chances at winning as possible.

That assumes that all of the guys listed gives their teams an equal chance to win each year, so yeah the more years the better.

But if having Orr gives you a 30% chance to win at his peak for 10 years, while Bourque gives you a 15% chance to win over the entire 20 years, I'd rather the guy who gives me a greater chance to win in a given season, even if the window is smaller.

 

[NyQuil]

Boohoo?

Do you run your opinion by every Sens fan before you post so you don't hurt their feelings?

Yes I do.

 

[tarheelhockey]

For a whole career I’d take Bourque. Folks need to remember Orr didn’t win Cups on his own, he played on an overpowered dynasty and even then only won 2 with a lot of playoff flops thrown in. Hockey simply doesn’t work like “he gives you 8 great shots at the Cup”, the team matters just as much for him as for anyone.

To have the best shot at winning as many Cups as possible, at any position I’d take 20 years of a guy who’s often #1 and always top-4, over a guy who’s #1 every year for 8 years. To make it simple, here’s the trade in terms of Norris finishes:

Orr: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3
Bourque: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 7, 7

Basically you downgrade three 1s to become 2s instead, in order to gain all of the bolded numbers.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Bobby Orr.. is this serious?

 

[Scintillating10]

Robinson probably. Orr had bad knees