Tribute T.J. Brodie Appreciation

[DarkKnight]

Curious if others share the sentiment that Brodie has been a fantastic pickup. He’s quickly becoming our number 1 all around D man imho. Steady, calm, smart, efficient, skilled, battles, a true diverse toolset. Can play any situation, can matchup wherever needed, he’s quietly becoming a player Keefe can lean hard on.

He made a few fantastic quick up passes last night in particular that didn’t show up on the scoresheet, but were instrumental to subsequent chances. Every game we are seeing different wrinkles, more positives and emerging anchor on D. He’s exactly what the Leafs needed on defence.

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[Seath The Scaleless]

He is also the king of breaking up 2-on-1s lol

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

He is also the king of breaking up 2-on-1s lol

The diving alligator blocking man never misses his prey.

 

[zeke]

Another player who plays with poise, calm, and self assurance - and who has beautiful skating, too.

That poise will keep rubbing off on and calming the rest of the team more and more as the season rolls on.

 

[ShaneFalco]

He's been great! Solid!

 

[MattySnipes]

Great pickup, can understand now why Dubas wanted to acquire him initially for Kadri.

Keep it up. I love his skating and his smarts. The way he used his body to take lane away on 2-on1 against, followed by moving his stick to block the pass after was unreal.

Also had a beauty stretch pass to Boyd for the tic-tac-toe goal.

 

[DarkKnight]

Great pickup, can understand now why Dubas wanted to acquire him initially for Kadri.

Keep it up. I love his skating and his smarts. The way he used his body to take lane away on 2-on1 against, followed by moving his stick to block the pass after was unreal.

Also had a beauty stretch pass to Boyd for the tic-tac-toe goal.

That pass to Boyd last night was gold.

 

[Buds17]

Has helped to solidify the best top four on D this franchise has had in some time, IMO. Provides a bit of everything (top pairing usage at ES, secondary roles on the PP and PK) and is capable enough at both ends of the ice.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

I was cautiously optimistic when the leafs picked him up. He has currently out preformed my expectations. Excellent partner for Reilly that allows him to play his game. Brodie has preformed like a more mobile Ron Hainsey and been effective in all 3 zones. His poise both with and without the puck has been fantastic. His ability to both speed up and slow down the game to suit the current dynamic on the ice has been awesome. He's also shown to be pretty effective at disrupting other teams ability to cycle down low, dispite being a bit smaller by nhl standards. Very happy with Brodie, I hope he can keep up this level of play with consistency going deep into the season and playoffs.

 

[LFCTML]

He's been everything I prayed Barrie would be. Exactly what we needed.

 

[ponder]

I know the Rielly/Brodie advanced stats haven’t been great, but it’s also only been 11 games. Small sample size, and they’re still getting used to one another. They’re doing a lot right, I really like Brodie’s game, and I think they’ll get more and more effective as a pair the more they play together.

Overall really liking what Brodie brings to the team. Great defensive instincts, great skater, good with the puck, basically everything you could ask for in a partner for Rielly but physicality.

 

[Peasy]

You can see why Dubas wanted him over Barrie.

 

[LeafSteel]

He’s been ok but clearly he’s no Cody Ceci......

He wasn’t the RHD I wanted us to get but he has been solid 11 games in.

so far so good, even if he ain’t no Tyson Barrie....... thank God.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

This was a fantastic pass that helped spring a 3 on 2, didn't even get a point out of it.

 

[Twine Tickler]

He has come as advertised. I am not sure I would say he has ben our best D-Man all year. I would say Justin Holl has been our best overall defenseman. But yes, I am liking what I am seeing from him. Think he and Reilly still need some seasoning, but it is starting to come for sure. He is clearly more suitable for us than Barrie, and I fully understand why KD targeted him the year prior

 

[SprDaVE]

He's really what we've been missing when Gardiner left. I know Gardiner is polarizing around here and made plenty of mistakes, but Brodie brings skating and puck poise from our end to the offensive zone. He understands puck possession and can make plays. He's just better defensively all around, so that helps a lot.

 

[Mickey Marner]

His pair hasn't been great but he fits our style well. Good stick & positional play, strong skater, quick heads up puck moving etc. Just steady play with no aimless pinches that that take him out of position and he makes some nice feints to gain seperation from forecheckers.

If Rielly calms down and stops trying to force offense they should be fine.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Good add to our lineup ... he started out slow but his game/speed has picked up ... now we got him, Muzzy, Holl and Bogo that's 4 guys who makes us a much more complete defensive team ... we are making progress ... I can see those 4 guys playing against Habs in playoffs near end of games when things get tough ... I can see Rielly playing a lot less too because we can't have a rover against a good solid playoff team ... first time in a long long time I can remember us be in such strong position

 

[hockeynorth]

I love Brodie so far

 

[JT AM da real deal]

He's really what we've been missing when Gardiner left. I know Gardiner is polarizing around here and made plenty of mistakes, but Brodie brings skating and puck poise from our end to the offensive zone. He understands puck possession and can make plays. He's just better defensively all around, so that helps a lot.

Gards and Barrie were scared ... Brodie is not ... if u played defense u would know right away ... u can tell when a guy goes into corner if he wants to be first or last ... chicken sh*ts always take long way its in their nature ... they are converted forwards

 

[Oscar Peterson]

That pass to Boyd last night was gold.

Surprised I haven't seen more people talking about that, he had maybe an inch of wiggle room to get that by the 2nd Canucks player and right on Boyd's stick, man that whole sequence was just gorgeous... Especially considering that was our fourth line

 

[stickty111]

Been terrific aside from the one game. He makes important defensive plays every game. Calm and efficient.

 

[Rude Dog]

Big fan. Great first pass out of our Own zone.

 

[The Iceman]

He's really what we've been missing when Gardiner left. I know Gardiner is polarizing around here and made plenty of mistakes, but Brodie brings skating and puck poise from our end to the offensive zone. He understands puck possession and can make plays. He's just better defensively all around, so that helps a lot.

Gardiner is a pretty decent comparison. Premium added for playing RHD position.

The one point I must make is he hasn't made Reilly return to his form that he displayed with Hainsey as his partner.
Is that because Reilly isn't as good as he showed back then or Brodie and Reilly aren't quite the perfect fit for Reilly?

 

[IPS]

Gardiner????

you guys have to be kidding. I wasn't even a Gardiner hater but Brodie is 10x the defensemen Gardiner is, let's be real.