Lots of people go just by stats, but if you watch him play he is truly a liability. Would be much better off with Timmins than him and that’s not saying a lot

Who would be your ideal TJ Brodie replacement?

I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. Opinions like yours are why people often use advanced stats to guide their opinions. You clearly have some bias against his style of play.

We could have up to 20 million dollars in cap space this off season. Has it ever occurred to you that we could add “skill, mobility, and luck movement” without giving up our best defencman?

imo, the fact Brodie has 1 year left makes him less ideal to move in from. The return wouldn’t be worth it. And if he declines as you say (even though he hasn’t shown any signs of declining), then we don’t have to re-sign him. Or we sign him to a cheaper deal and make him an effective 3rd pair shutdown defencman.

Someone with a right shot, like Pesce from Carolina. No one in free agency is attractive enough to chase. There are some good names but none of them can play top pairing minutes.

So then why would we trade him?

Because Brodie isn't a right shot, and he can't play top pairing minutes. Why should Leafs settle for average?

You just said there isn't a replacement that can play top pairing minutes.

if i had to guess it might just be that KingExLeafs guy who hates him, and since he makes like 20 acgms a day it seems like it's a lot of people

There is, via trade, not free agency.

I think the majority of Leafs fans have soured on Brodie, especially after the playoffs. Recency bias.

The fact that he has one year left makes Brodie an ideal trade candidate. Treliving was open to moving him in CGY, would not surprise me to see it happen again.
I would just counter with since Brodie became a Leaf he has played 56, 82, 58 games. So far starters you can't even pencil him into a full season. And if you back the season before he joined TOR he played 64. So durability is certainly a concern as he will be 33 years old at the start on next season. Now you factor in IF you are bringing back Schenn, you him, Brodie and McCabe who are all very poor skaters and offer nothing offensively. And until otherwise told, you have a very slow Giordano in the lineup. It wasn't until Keefe moved Brodie to his strong side (LD) that he looked comfortable again on the ice. So if the plan is to have Rielly, McCabe, Brodie on LD then finding a legit top 4 RD that can move the puck is a must.


Time will tell I guess. But I am in the camp of moving on from him

Brett Pesce would be very difficult to acquire. Not to mention he isn't even that substantial of an upgrade over Brodie. And even if we did trade for a player, why does that mean we have to dump Brodie? We aren't pressed against the cap at all.

Pesce is just one potential candidate. And I think Liljegren should be given top 4 minutes to develop, so do you really want Brodie being the 6th defenceman? That money can be better used to upgrade the top six, there are a couple of quality wingers available in FA.

I'm not disagreeing that we have to acquire another top-4 defenceman. I just don't understand the logic in moving on from Brodie while doing so.

I guess we just don't see eye-to-eye on Brodie as a player. I think he's easily the best defenceman on this team and has proved himself to be one of the most reliable defensive players in the league the past 3 seasons. A couple series where he played the hardest minutes on the team because no one else is competent defensively shouldn't discredit his entire resume of being a solid 2/3 defenceman. Not sure what else I could say to you. Just remember how awful this team was defensively before he was acquired.

Brodie has been very useful, the stats speak for themselves. But he's not a playoff type player. Leafs need to get bigger and meaner on the blue line. Look at the Vegas defense. Big bodies win games in the spring.

Do you want Schenn back? What does your ideal top 6 on the backend look like?

I'm not saying we don't need to get better in that aspect. I just want someone to answer why we can't acquire a player AND keep Brodie. You can make up whatever hypothetical scenario you want where we spend Brodie's 5 million on some top-6 player, but that doesn't neglect that fact that losing Brodie (even after acquiring a "tough" defenceman) will create a hole in the top-4. Not to mention we actually have the cap space to acquire a defenceman, keep Brodie, AND pay a top-6 forward 5 million.

For me, if Brodie only plays the right side, then I would prefer Liljegren to be in the top 4 because he needs playing time to develop and get better. I don't think it's beneficial for Liljegren or the team to stick him on the bottom pair for another year. And I don't want any bottom pairing defenceman making 5 million, so if Brodie isn't on the top pair then he should be moved.

I'd like Schenn back under the circumstance that it's a very cheap deal, which it likely will be. And that doesn't necessarily mean we have to commit to playing him in the lineup every night. He looked great in the playoffs next to Rielly, but you and I both know that expecting those same results for entire 82 game season isn't realistic.

Next years defence can go many different ways, and I think it pretty much depends on whether we decide to move Brodie to the left side or not. I wouldn't mind having a a left side of Brodie-McCabe-Rielly with a weaker right side. A lot of teams tend to play their 3 best defencemen on different lines. Something like:

Brodie - New Guy (Mobile/Physical)
McCabe - Lilly
Rielly - Schenn

Bottom line is
a) Removing Brodie from this team doesn't make them better in any way
b) We don't even have to move on from him if we want to change the makeup of the D

But we know Brodie doesn't only play the right side. We've seen Keefe play him on the left numerous times.

Yes, that's the only scenario where I see him staying on the Leafs.

I am not apposed to bringing back Brodie but he no longer should be playing the right side, so ya, if they keep Brodie, Rielly, Mcabe is the only way I see working.

I just can't see a Dcore or Rielly, Schenn, McCabe, Brodie, Liljegren working after we just saw they get crushed in the playoffs. Trouble breaking the puck out, stopping the cycle, brutal zone entry defence, I want to see some significant change. But that goes with the coach too, I do not like how passive Keefe makes them play.

Rielly Schenn
McCabe Liljegren

I would like to see two new guys.





Brodie - New Guy (Mobile/Physical) Who is this guy you like?
McCabe - Lilly
Rielly - Schenn

I recognize there aren’t many realistic options that can fit that mould. Dumba is one that comes to mind, but his underlying numbers have been below-average the past few seasons. Maybe Brodie’s defensive play can allow Dumba to play to his strengths. I don’t mind the top-4 you have (I have those pairs on the team too), but I’d be cautious with your expectations of Rielly-Schenn. Having said that, I think our blue line has always, and will continue to lack a true #1D. I don’t think there’s any significant change you can make that would IMPROVE the blue line, despite the change in style. The time for that likely won’t come until JTs contract is up.