Confirmed with Link: TJ Brodie to TOR | 4 years 5M per

[Tbaybruin]

Doesn't that just mean that the leafs have to include him as a protected defenseman and he still takes up one of our 3 d slots?

Yes has to be protected

 

[Jozay]

Yes has to be protected

Been confirmed they dont

 

[KMNRB]

If there’s anything reassuring about this game of musical chairs it’s the fact that Flames fans are not in support of the Brodie for Tanev downgrade.

Apparently, the Leafs actually made an offer to Tanev for under $4 mil:

So in the Leafs' assessment, Brodie worths $1 mil more than Tanev.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Apparently, the Leafs actually made an offer to Tanev for under $4 mil:

So in the Leafs' assessment, Brodie worths $1 mil more than Tanev.

Not necessarily. Free agency is more about what you can get, than fair valuation.

 

[Banner]

I think leafs fans will be very happy with this signing as he settles in. All flames fans would have easily taken him back at this price. The contract isn’t a steal, but it is very fair. I assume he chose Toronto because of his wife’s condition, or the flames thought it was time to part ways.

Brodie is a very interesting case. His skillset in a vacuum is probably that of a high-end second pairing defenceman, but when he is paired with a great first pairing partner, Brodie turns into a first pairing calibre defenseman himself. Some flames fans think Giordano carried Brodie to looking great in Calgary, but in reality I think Brodie helped Giordano just as much as Gio helped him. The Bro-Dano pairing at their peak was thrown in discussions to be able to rival the Weber-Suter pairing in Nashville here on hfboards a couple years ago. That doesn’t happen when one partner gets carried; they both allowed each other to play to their strengths greatly. When Giordano was injured in the 14-15 season, Brodie had to carry our pathetic defense whose next best defensemen were Kris Russel and Dennis Wideman to the playoffs. I don’t think we win our series against the canucks that year if it weren’t for him. He may not be what you think of when people say elite first pairing Dman, but he easily has all the tools and skills to fill that role. His success will depend on how he gels with Rielly, but I personally think it will turn out really well and that the pairing will play to their strengths greatly.

Other notes: he is amazing at 3 on 3 OT. Find highlights of flames OT wins and I guarantee Brodie is involved in some kind of way, either by a tremendous outlet pass, assist, or scoring the goal itself. He also plays pretty well against Boston. There was a game where flames got destroyed 9-0 against the bruins, and Brodie managed to finish with an even +\-. There’s two instances where he scored a late OT goal against the bruins in order to steal a win. The only negative think I can say about him is that he rarely makes mistakes, but when he does, they’re pretty big, and usually end up at the back of your net. You will be frustrated at him cause you know he’s better than that. His defense gaffs are pretty rare, but devastating when they do happen.

Some people may be disappointed because they wanted Pietro, but I am confident leafs fans will be very, very happy with Brodie.

 

[FlareKnight]

Now that he’s here, signed, and I’ve had time to reflect on it, I’m looking forward to seeing how things go. Hopefully he’s exactly who Rielly has needed.

Considering the options this did seem like a pretty solid one. Does have the potential to give us a couple really solid pairings for the first time in forever.

 

[Legion34]

Yes has to be protected

nope

 

[Puckstuff]

I think both players are good defensively. What separates Brodie from Ceci is that he is so obviously a more well rounded player and exactly the type of two way guy that Rielly has needed to play with. 35 year old Giordano just won the Norris with Brodie as a partner right? None of that takes away from the fact Ceci has excellent defensive stats this year. The problem is that if you are going to become useless once you hit the redline, you might not be a great fit in the top 4 on a winning team.

Dmen with the lowest 5v5 Goals Against/60 while on the ice in the league this year REL (min 950 minutes played this past season):

1. Stecher: - .88 goals per 60
2. Mayfield : - .82 goals per 60
3. Nemeth: - .82 goals per 60
4. Green: - .81 goals per 60
5. Yandle: - .74 goals per 60
6. Ceci: - .74 goals per 60
7. Fowler: - .7 goals per 60
8. Josi: - .66 goals per 60
9. Theodore: - .63 goals per 60
10: Giordano: - .62 goals per 60

This is basically a list of players that were the best in the league when it came to limiting goals scored by the other team relative how the rest of their team did. There are other factors of course including quality of competition and usage but considering Ceci wasnt used primarily as a 5/6 this year or dropped into any kind of offensive situations, he fares pretty well I think. He could have just gotten lucky or suffering from some statical noise I guess (considering the massive drop off in the quality of the Leafs goaltending this year) but he also has solid underlying numbers and was, when paired with Muzzin was on the #1 PK pairing in the NHL for GA/60 REL. Its really hard to find any numbers, advanced or not, that say Ceci was bad defensively unless you wanna start talking about things like gap control but even then, if those things dont lead to high danger chances or goals against, what are they defining? Why are his GA numbers so low? Has anyone even tried to talk about his strengths?

In the end, it was best for him to walk away as he'll never escape the narrative he is "bad defensively". It's part of the mainstream now......and I have no doubt he'll get buried even more when our goaltending inevitably rebounds next year (it has too doesnt it?) and folks will say "See, he was the problem". Its always interesting to see how the sausage of narratives are made though.

Nice post. Btw what site do you use for analytics?

 

[Kurtz]

Brodie is expansion draft exempt because of his NMC in his contract. Thats good

He doesn't have to be protected, but that doesn't mean that he's exempt from the draft. If we don't use one of our 3 dmen protection slots on him, Seattle can claim him.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

He doesn't have to be protected, but that doesn't mean that he's exempt from the draft. If we don't use one of our 3 dmen protection slots on him, Seattle can claim him.

You are right. I read misinformation on that, or did i......

 

[Duffman955]

What is the advantage of backloading the contract

 

[Tbaybruin]

W

nope

Why not

 

[FlareKnight]

What is the advantage of backloading the contract

Probably just in making Brodie happy. With the cap situation he's more likely to get the full value of his contract in the last couple years than in the first couple years. The benefit to the Leafs I suppose was in getting him signed.

 

[Merrrlin]

We have the same D core as last year. Just replace Barrie with Brodie...also we might end up losing Dermott & Ceci's done

We have the same d core as last year if you remove 40 minutes a night from Ceci/Barrie Marincin and replace them with a very capable defensively Brodie, and if you add in a dynamic 2 way talent in Lehtonen or the punishing Bogosian, and you add a year of growth to Lilly and Rasmus, and if you get anything but awful luck and don’t lose your best 2 defencemen for half the season...

I could go on, but suffice to say it’s not the same d core.

 

[Deebo]

If the Leafs offer to Tanev was after Brodie, which seems likely as Dubas said Brodie was the main focus.

This tells us that Leafs were in the position to add a 3,5M defenseman. Wouldn't that mean Weegar would still be an option?

 

[RoadWarrior]

If the Leafs offer to Tanev was after Brodie, which seems likely as Dubas said Brodie was the main focus.

This tells us that Leafs were in the position to add a 3,5M defenseman. Wouldn't that mean Weegar would still be an option?

Yes but Florida is in no hurry to trade him. Unless ownership does a complete fire sale.

 

[Deebo]

Yes but Florida is in no hurry to trade him. Unless ownership does a complete fire sale.

Johnston said they are definitley trying to trade him, but doesn't know if Toronto would still be in on it.

That's why I made the comment, if the Tanev offer was made and Florida is trying to trade Weegar, I would think Toronto is involved.

 

[Cor]

I don’t doubt leafs are still interested in Weegar.

Winnipeg might have a leg up given they aren’t division rivals, but I think it may come down to who Florida likes better. Roslavic or Dermott/Holl

 

[RoadWarrior]

Johnston said they are definitley trying to trade him, but doesn't know if Toronto would still be in on it.

That's why I made the comment, if the Tanev offer was made and Florida is trying to trade Weegar, I would think Toronto is involved.

I think it depends on his arbitration award. If he gets big $$ then they trade him. However if the leafs trade for him now they face the same risk.

 

[93LEAFS]

What is the advantage of backloading the contract

For him or us? For us, nothing really. For him it avoids huge escrow years. Pretty sure the NHL has an early out on this CBA though, so guys may be hit on the backend if there is a rollback.

 

[Puckstuff]

If the Leafs offer to Tanev was after Brodie, which seems likely as Dubas said Brodie was the main focus.

This tells us that Leafs were in the position to add a 3,5M defenseman. Wouldn't that mean Weegar would still be an option?

Would you rather Tanev or Weegar? Keep in mind this D partner is for Morgan Rielly so we want the best defensive defensmen imo.

 

[Guy Boucher]

What is the advantage of backloading the contract

Players want backloaded contracts because escrow is set to decline after two years, so they stand to collect a greater % of their salary down the road.

For the team, a backloaded contract (assuming there are no signing bonuses, which brodie doesn't have) makes it easier for a buyout.

 

[Guy Boucher]

Would you rather Tanev or Weegar? Keep in mind this D partner is for Morgan Rielly so we want the best defensive defensmen imo.

I would want Weegar. Tanev is already in his decline and Weegar is young and already providing good defensive impact.

 

[Fogelhund]

Would you rather Tanev or Weegar? Keep in mind this D partner is for Morgan Rielly so we want the best defensive defensmen imo.

I love how Tanev plays, but he isn't your main acquisition, given the injury history.. he just can't be counted on. You pick Brodie over Tanev, all day, every day.

Weegar hasn't been traded, don't know if he will, so until then, there isn't much point to this... there are suggestions, that he might be traded, and that we have at least been to the table to discuss obtaining him... it might be Weegar AND Brodie by the time we are done.

If it's Weegar or Tanev... Weegar for sure, more given the injury history than anything else... if there was no injuries, it would be difficult, given the age difference, though I really like Tanev.

 

[The Apologist]

I can't even begin to describe how excited I am that Brodie is a Leaf. We are gonna love this guy. He's a CK boy. So stoked he's ours now.