Is TJ Brodie an elite defensive defenceman in the NHL?

[Atomos2]

Saw this tweet and got me thinking how Brodie has changed the entire Leafs defence.




For the sake of argument let’s say

Top 5 - Elite
Top 10
Top 20
Top 30
Top 30+

Click to read more...

 

[Buck Naked]

Good defense is so much harder to quantify than offense, so it's really tough. He's probably top 10 in terms of pure defense though.

 

[Volica]

Goals-for is a weird stat to point at someone being elite defensively. Considering someone like Tony DeAngelo is top 5 this year, and will never be confused with a defense first aficionado.

That said, Brodie has been a solid defender for many years, including his time in Calgary. Probably top 20 in the league when all is said and done.

The NHL is near impossible to go apples to apples from different teams. Coaching, depth, forwards all make things hard to pin. For example. Chris Tanev might be one of the best pure shutdown players in the NHL. Yet 2 years ago, people outside of Vancouver were saying this guy was replacement level because his advanced stats were absolute dog shit.

 

[newfy]

I actually think hes an elite transition dman more than a "defensive" dman. Watch the puck go in his corner, he has it and its either on the tape of a winger breaking out or hes using his elite skating to get it out of his end. One of the absolute best transition dmen in the league, not sure I would say defensive dman at all to describe him

 

[The90]

Not sure where I’d rank him, but I’ve literally never seen someone as effective at breaking up odd man rushes.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Hopefully no one is overrating him

he’s a great two-way defencemen, not a defensive defencemen who has just started to play offence since his tenure began. He’s not a #1, but he’s probably a top 30-50 defencemen in terms of defencemen

 

[AvroArrow]

I don't know about elite, but he is absolutely our best defensive d-men. Our most under-rated player IMO. He's not flashy but he's effective and phenomenal with his stick. Especially good at breaking up 2 on 1s. He is very very good defensively, that's what I'll say about him. Responsible, always seems to be in position, doesn't take risks. You know exactly what you're getting with him, he's like our safety net back there. Absolutely love the guy.

The Kadri trade is more bearable because of him. Originally it was Kadri for Brodie, Kadri vetoed it. The next summer Dubas signs him with the same money that was allocated to Kadri. I don't think he's top 10 defensively, but probably in the 20-25 range. He's a legit top pairing guy, extremely reliable.

 

[Pyrophorus]

I'll just say he's been very good.
Kadri deal isn't so bad anymore.

 

[LeafGrief]

Eh, I don't know if he deserves the label of elite. Elite at 2 on 1's though, that's for darn sure.

He has been an incredible signing for the Leafs. He and Muzzin are the backbone of what is actually a quite good defensive group. I'll vote top20, because the question is ranking his defensive abilities only. He's absolutely a top pairing defenseman and there's probably not 20 guys who are better than he is defensively. He's a rock.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

If we are talking PURE defence only, I guess he could crack top 30 but I'm sure those lists will be super opinionated and messy.

Transition and puck movement are his forte. Also as mentioned being ridiculous on odd man rushes.

 

[ACC1224]

He's been elite defensively here, that's all that matters.

 

[DomBarr]

top 30+ he is a great complementary dman but he is not someone you build a defence around.

 

[leafsfan5]

Not sure where I’d rank him, but I’ve literally never seen someone as effective at breaking up odd man rushes.

The only person I can think of that’s better at it is Nicklas Lidstrom. Once I see Brodie back on an odd man rush my level of worry goes down 95%

 

[Bounces R Way]

Has been one of the best #2 defenseman in the league for much of his career. Glad people are starting to see it. You kind of have to watch him a lot to notice just how good he is, as that article says it's all the subtle plays he makes.

I actually think hes an elite transition dman more than a "defensive" dman. Watch the puck go in his corner, he has it and its either on the tape of a winger breaking out or hes using his elite skating to get it out of his end. One of the absolute best transition dmen in the league, not sure I would say defensive dman at all to describe him

Transition is definitely the best part of his defense. Most Pacific teams didn't even bother forechecking on him his last couple seasons in Calgary.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

The only person I can think of that’s better at it is Nicklas Lidstrom. Once I see Brodie back on an odd man rush my level of worry goes down 95%

Holy shit

Leafs fans are funny. Maybe you should watch more non-leafs games.

 

[leafsfan5]

Holy shit

Leafs fans are funny. Maybe you should watch more non-leafs games.

?

I'm not saying he's the best defensive defenseman of all time lol, this is just a very specific skill he's almost perfect at

 

[herashak]

Brain farts and turnovers were sometimes an issue to drop him but generally a top 20 defender/possession guy

 

[Regal]

Great at defending the rush as well as getting to loose pucks and getting them out of the zone to negate offense. I wouldn’t say he’s elite purely defensively, and can be prone to the odd brain fart, but he gets great defensive results from what he’s good at.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

I'll just say he's been very good.
Kadri deal isn't so bad anymore.

Its still bad, guy should be a selke finalist and is also pacing WELL over PPG so far this season. And he only makes 4.5M.
What did the Leafs get for him? Kerfoot?

 

[ManofSteel55]

Does he count as a defensive defenseman now? In Calgary he played a more offense-based game and was great at that element, has he changed his style so much that he is now considered a defensive defenseman?

Of all the guys Calgary has let go in the past, I'm so happy Brodie has surged elsewhere. He was a whipping boy among the less hockey savvy segment of Calgary fanbase for too long, I'm glad he's knocking it out of the park elsewhere. Even if it is in Toronto, ha ha.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

"Really good" is probably how you would describe him, but definitely not elite, that's both defensively and overall.

He just doesn't do anything great enough to be elite.

For most defensemen to be elite including elite defensively they need to dominate with the puck on their stick, imo, which Brodie does not. He makes some really slick breakout passes and moves it well but he doesn't have that poise and abillity to hold the puck like an Adam Fox, Cale Makar, Victor Hedman etc which is essentially also playing defense while being good on offense by not letting the other team have the puck.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Its still bad, guy should be a selke finalist and is also pacing WELL over PPG so far this season. And he only makes 4.5M.
What did the Leafs get for him? Kerfoot?

Kerfoot and the cap space (barrie) for Brodie, who of course was their original target for their Kadri deal (Brodie and Jankowski, i think?).

Its nice Kadri is selke finalist over a ppg but hes also a UFA so that 4.5 is going to go up a whoooole lot. Plus Brodie doesnt have a history of getting suspended in the playoffs when things really matter.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Its still bad, guy should be a selke finalist and is also pacing WELL over PPG so far this season. And he only makes 4.5M.
What did the Leafs get for him? Kerfoot?

yes who is playing well, and eventually Brodie.

 

[Regal]

Kerfoot and the cap space (barrie) for Brodie, who of course was their original target for their Kadri deal (Brodie and Jankowski, i think?).

Its nice Kadri is selke finalist over a ppg but hes also a UFA so that 4.5 is going to go up a whoooole lot. Plus Brodie doesnt have a history of getting suspended in the playoffs when things really matter.

I wouldn’t say that makes the deal good though. The cap situation the deal created ended up working out, but they could have traded Kadri for picks if that was the case and at least still had asset value from the deal.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

I wouldn’t say that makes the deal good though. The cap situation the deal created ended up working out, but they could have traded Kadri for picks if that was the case and at least still had asset value from the deal.

They had already tried to trade Kadri, he nixed the trade with his NTC. They chose to get a top pairing dman (that didnt turn out to work with our team) and a replacement 3C who could step in to get top 6 when needed. Which is exactly what they wanted when they first tried to get Brodie.

Kadri also played exactly how everyone expected for the entirety of his deal (including getting a dumb playoff suspension again) literally until this season, and now he's almost 90% gone from Colorado after this year due to the raise he will receive as a UFA. Leafs will still have all equivalent (Brodie/Barrie and Kerfoot if they dont move him) assets from the deal.

Edit: And for clarity, I'm not saying the deal was a win for Toronto but I dont think they are upset with how it turned out. Both teams are happy with what theyve ended up with, just took us an extra season to change Barrie to Brodie through free agency.