Confirmed Signing with Link: [CHI] D TJ Brodie signs with the Blackhawks (2 years, $3.75M AAV)

[dgibb10]

He was our 7th dman... and we ran arguably a bottom 10D in the league. How did he pull off 3.75m LOL

He played 22 minutes a night he was not your 7D.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Last season with Brodie was wild. Guy was in autopilot, with nothing at all behind those glazed over eyes. He “did his job” and badly the whole season. It was like a guy that wasn’t present and knew he’d be doing something else in a few hours.

Credit to his agent, this guy will be press box bound before the ink is dry.

He played 22 minutes a night he was not your 7D.

Which is scary considering it took to gm1 to scratch him. That’s on the staff , not the player. They thought he could figure it out. And they paid for it, because we went into the blender late in the year to find chemistry

 

[SensFactor]

TJ has experience which is needed in Chicago. Good low risk signing for 2 years.

 

[Pinto]

There's nothing that hurts the general perception of a player more than being overpaid in Toronto.

Brodie wasn't great last season, true. But he wasn't totally spent either. Being overpaid in Toronto just lead the general opinion too far. He'll be fine for 2 years. I expected the AAV would start with a 2, but GMs overpay every year.

He wasn’t really overpaid though, he was very good for us for most of his contract, he just really fell off hard last year (and going back to round 2 vs Florida the year before). He was dealing with some personal stuff last year so hopefully he bounces back, but he looks cooked.

 

[NVious]

Chicago understands the power of alliteration, Bedard (main piece) needs other Bs to be unleashed (Bertuzzi was a good choice, Brodie may not look like a great choice, but he has the ultimate x factor; his name starts with a B).

Look at their cup winners:
Kane+Keith
Sharp+Saad+Seabrook+Shaw

A lot of teams underestimate the power of alliteration, but that's because they don't have 3 rings plugging their ears to the stupid theories about "team balance/cap management/good D." Chicago knows what REALLY wins cups (alliteration)

 

[Reality Czech]

Chicago, where fading veterans with almost nothing left in the tank get overpaid.

 

[Fogelhund]

He played 22 minutes a night he was not your 7D.

He was a healthy scratch, and played one game in the playoffs... he ended up being the 7D, by the end of the season. He's had a great career, and been a very good D man, for a long time, and he was for most of his time with the Leafs. A small guy like him, who isn't physical, it's all about his skating. When you lose your peak skating, your game is going to suffer, and his did. Maybe it was nagging injuries, or all of the things in his personal life... maybe he'll bounce back. The version of Brodie that the Leafs had for the second half of the year, was a shell of his former self.

 

[crashthenet]

This surpasses the idea of bringing in a vet or getting to the cap floor or whatever. It's either a favor to his agent or just irresponsible. Would have been better off signing Lybushkin at 2 for 8 or something like that.

 

[Warden of the North]

I am puzzled by this contract. He looked washed up in TOR this season.

His personal life was a mess over the past year. His father passed and there are medical issues in his immediate household.

He has potential to rebound, IMO.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Honestly, as long as the Blackhawks cut his ice time down to 15-16 mins or less I think Brodie will be fine.

Vlasic and Jones will eat up the 20+min spots.

 

[The Management]

He looked done last year, but he's been in the league a long time and seemed like a pretty likeable veteran. The Hawks could certainly do worse for a mentor type, but don't rely on him to take any tough assignments. At least it's just two years.

 

[slappipappi]

He was our 7th dman... and we ran arguably a bottom 10D in the league. How did he pull off 3.75m LOL

He averaged over 21 minutes a night, 2nd in the team, and his highest in 6 years.

That’s a lot of minutes Toronto needs to replace.

Hard to imagine how a 7th dman could do that.

You might want to spank that fact checker of yours.

 

[TheDoldrums]

He averaged over 21 minutes a night, 2nd in the team, and his highest in 6 years.

That’s a lot of minutes Toronto needs to replace.

Hard to imagine how a 7th dman could do that.

You might want to spank that fact checker of yours.

because roles change over the course of the season...it's really not hard to imagine actually

when the games mattered most a coach who absolutely loved Brodie sat him in the press box

 

[kruezer]

I was just thinking about Brodie being a LHS D who throughout his career played the right side, I wonder did they try to switch him to the left side in Toronto? He always made up for being on the wrong side in Calgary due to his superb skating and absurdly quick reaction times. Obviously he is older and slowing now, but I wonder if switching him to his strong side could elongate his value in the NHL.

 

[Conbon]

Same age as Tanev why not give him 6 years??

 

[ClydeLee]

because roles change over the course of the season...it's really not hard to imagine actually

when the games mattered most a coach who absolutely loved Brodie sat him in the press box

So the 78 games he played don't indicate his role but 6 games he sat do? All of April he still played 20-21 minutes other than 2 games. Doesn't seem his role changed.

Maybe the coach should of done something sooner. Keith said he needs to get his head right, when he scratched him after game 1. Why did Keefe wait to do that? He could of done that or switched his role during the season, he never did.

If Brodie is playing 20mins a night, Luke Richardson should be fired like Keefe was. But even with injuries, he shouldn't be.

 

[Iwishihadaspacebar]

The Blackhawks probably looked at Mrazek then back at Brodie and thought "shall we give this guy who the Leafs thought was washed a chance?"

Having a sheltered role along with Jones and Murphy will help him and he'll be a good help to the likes of Korchinski.

The most important thing for the Blackhawks was supporting Bedard with actual NHLers or players with experience as the team they had at times last year was unacceptable.

 

[mattihp]

I'm kinda digging the Hawks strategy of overpaying these depth vets to come to their team to help their young guys out. They have the cap space, use it!

Also as a neutral fan, glad they got some skilled forwards (+ Hall hopefully being healthy) to put next to Bedard. They won't be a playoff team but they'll be fun to watch.

Gotta give the fans something!