Good deal for Brodie and he'll fit in well there, playing with a Norris calibre LD is what he does best. Good signing, probably a little higher number than he shoulda got/woulda taken to stay in Calgary, but there's nothing wrong with securing the bag if Toronto is willing to pay him. They might actually be a decent team this year.

I'm pumped to see T.J. Brodie in action in the Blue and White. I think Dermott, Johnsson, and Engvall are on their way out with the logjam on LD (Dermott is not going to be playing right) and the cap requirements. Whoo!

Brodie over Hamonic ?

@Jamiepo

Still remember the evaluation of Brodie from 2 years ago....Gardiner skills with worse skating......thoughts ?

Min League.

Not to be confused with... Win League

Brodie >>>> Hamonic. Fantastic player, you will love him. He plays a rover style, similar to Sergachev.

Brodie is one of the better skating D in the league

So on the scale of 1-10 how much of Shutdown D is he ( sry i never paid attention to the guy, was eying Hamonic 2 years back, thought Dubarelli will flip Barrie to CGY 1 for 1 so I didnt bother with Brodie after low evaluation from user whos second team is CGY )

Shut down? No but he is very fast. He will literally backcheck from behind the opponents net. He will pair quite well with Rielly

It depends on which Brodie we get. If it is the Brodie of last year leafs are in great shape. If it is the Brodie of gardiner proportion gafs we are in trouble. Last season he was a solid two way guy. Great transition game and exits. Played a smart nearly flawless season.

I am skeptical but hopeful.

Leafs fans are looking for a stay at home guy. One to let Rielly roam free. Brodie is not that.

The good news is that he has a style close to Rielly. Maybe

Muzzin-Brodie
Rielly-Holl

Or you just go with dominant possession with Rielly-Brodie.

@laudan Brodie is a massive upgrade in Barrie and ceci. Imagine Barrie’s offence and puck movement with ceci’s defence.

Like I said earlier. If Brodie plays like he did last year (and the last 50 or so games of the season before) leafs nation will be happy. If he reverts back to making rash decisions dubas is trouble.

To be a massive upgrade over Barrie and Ceci in its own end isnt really hard to achieve, and using them both to describe Brodies attributes ( especially Cecis defence ) somehow scares me. What happened to Karlsson and Hedman-like ones, would for sure push me toward stripping Dubarelli off his nick name. Keeps me wondering how much Brodie is another side-product of superior partner in tandem as in this case Giordano is......

Hmmm...sounds like you could use Zettterberg's LTIR contract for a 1st round pick (since it will be in the high 20's) That will temporarily buy you some more cap room.

Heres 2 quotes from HFBoards describing Brodie (1 from me and 1 from another user):

"Ok, here is some info on Brodie to clarify things (not just your post I quoted, but some stuff I have noticed on other posts as well).

Yes, Brodie is a LHD, but he prefers playing the right side. No, he doesn't suck on the left side, and he has proven that a few times with partners not named Hamonic.

You won't find Brodie to be a traditional offensive defencemen by definition. What he does so well is defend very well - just take a look at Brodie's +/- in the playoff series against Colorado last season, and compare that to Hamonic. Also take note that Brodie is always out against the other team's best players. He was the ONLY defencemen that seemed to impede MacKinnon that series - perhaps the only player period. He will have a bit of a harder time against power-forwards as he isn't very physical - but he is capable of defending against them as well.

Now, offensively, Brodie is 'gifted' at that, but not in the way that someone like Barrie is (or was supposed to be). He doesn't have a booming slapper. He isn't going to beat goalies from distance (though he definitely has done this before too - just not a strength of his). What he is absolutely fantastic at is getting possession of the puck, and quickly moving it up tape-to-tape, or if he is under pressure, he is EXCELLENT on his edges and can beat forecheck pressure routinely, and then he will either carry the puck up himself, or find a really good outlet pass. His backhand passes are glorious.

He CAN QB the PP, but again, his shot while it isn't 'terrible', isn't a strength. He is good on the PP simply because he has the vision and the hands to be a playmaker. Just like some centres are 'scoring centres' and some are 'playmaking centres', Brodie is quite a bit like a 'playmaking defencemen'.

Will he make mistakes? Yes, he does, and he does sometimes suffer from confidence issues. However, he is usually steady as a rock from one game to the next. I rank him as the 2nd best overall defencemen in this off-season to hit UFA. Krug is obviously better offensively, and while he isn't terrible in his own end, Brodie is just really strong. He isn't Pietrangelo of course, but he is a very good 2-way defencemen that you can pair either with a strong offensive defencemen, or a strong defensive defencemen. Brodie is able to adjust well to both (he has played with Giordano - and together they were often the best pairing in the league in a few different seasons, and he was excellent with Michael Stone - defensive guy, and excellent with Deryk Engelland - defensive guy).

I think the Leafs hit a home-run on him, and still got a damn good contract with it. I expected a million more and 2 more years tacked-on. You will (usually) love Brodie I think. Really depends on what type of system the Leafs will play, but he really excels at moving the puck quick. Fantastic transition guy. IIRC, last season he was a top 5 transition defencemen in the NHL (or something like that, beating out some elite names making twice as him). He just isn't an offensive-defencemen by the traditional definition in having a bomb from the point.

edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - he is great on 3on3 OT. Like really great."



"Barrie was a pure OFD he is very poor in his own end. Brodie plays a rover style, as in in 1 shift he could be battling for the puck behind his own net then cycle below the opponents net to backchecking with his tremendous speed to prevent a 2 on 1. He will literally be everywhere doing every little thing. He will pair really well with Rielly due to his speed and hands. He also has a fantastic backhand (one of the best in the league) so playi g on the right side as a lefty will be beneficial for him. He was lowkey a major factor in Giordano's Norris run last year.
Only concern is like Gardiner he is known for having "hiccups." However this year he really cleaned up his game and they rarely occurred. IMO outside of Pietrangelo he was probably the best partner for Rielly on the market and could actually make him a Norris caliber defenseman.

Edit* the reason Brodie has these "hiccups" is because his playstyle is very high risk/high reward. There will be moments where you go "Brodie! Noo." But most of the time that wont be the case, he is very good at doing all the subtle things right."

No it will not

Please read the cba. Thank you.

Ceci was good in his own end and Barrie was good in transition.

Brodie plays capable defence and moves the puck well. His passes are great. “If” he plays how he has over the last 140 games (including playoffs) he will be a great fit. If he reverts back to being too loose with the puck it will be a nightmare.

Cross between karlsson and hedman? Believe his name is Jesus Christ and we don’t have the cap space.

You could always lower your expectations to the realm of the laws of the universe we live in lol.

Thank you for analysis



Hehe, you know what i was aiming for

Well, at least i wont be apriori against the guy ( as i was against Barrie ) and we will all have to wait what Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hide will have to show.....

missposted