T.J. Brodie addresses his uncertain future with the Maple Leafs
T.J. Brodie has one year remaining on the 4-year contract that he had signed in the fall of 2020. At a reasonable cap hit of $5 million, the 33-year-old has arguably been one of the more consistent players on the Leafs' roster over the past 3 seasons - and certainly their best defensive defenseman - but has found himself in a lame duck situation, coming into this season with no contract in place for next year, and no talks taking place.
The Maple Leafs find themselves in a peculiar position where they have 8 able-bodied defensemen - when healthy - and a lot of players on expiring contracts with 3 of their core players requiring extensions either this summer or the next. It's a little surprising that the Leafs hadn't approached Brodie over the off-season about a new deal, but the depth chart is full and cap space is in short supply.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet echoed those sentiments in his recent article:
When asked about his willingness to continue with the Maple Leafs, Brodie affirmed, 'Absolutely, but let's wait and see how things unfold.'"
In 3 seasons with the Maple Leafs, Brodie has played in 196 games, has scored 56 points, and has averaged 21:21 TOI. He has also accrued 301 blocked shots and 134 hits. In 25 post-season games, he has 7 points, 52 blocked shots and 35 hits, and has averaged 22:58 TOI.
Brodie is a rock on the back-end and, moving forward, he would like to remain a Maple Leaf, but there's a lot of shuffling that needs to be done before Brad Treliving starts focusing on the defensive stalwart.
As of today, it seems that they will enter the season without any further discussions, and they will be playing it by ear. However, you'd have to imagine that Brodie is a focal point moving forward with Mark Giordano, John Klingberg, and Timothy Liljegren on one-year deals this season as well, though Liljegren will be a restricted free agent upon the expiry of his current deal.
| POLL | ||
3 OCTOBRE | 262 ANSWERS T.J. Brodie addresses his uncertain future with the Maple Leafs Will the Leafs re-sign T.J. Brodie? | ||
| No | 140 | 53.4 % |
| Yes | 40 | 15.3 % |
| Only if he takes a pay cut | 82 | 31.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
