BLACKHAWKS SIGN VETERAN DEFENSEMAN TO A TWO-YEAR DEAL
The Blackhawks have signed veteran defenseman T.J. Brodie to a two-year, $7.5M contract, per a team announcement. It carries a $3.75M cap hit in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Brodie, 34, is coming off a four-year deal with the Maple Leafs that largely saw him serve as one of the better defensive D-men in the league — until he wasn’t.
After three years of bonafide top-pairing play, Brodie trailed off in 2023-24, seeing his possession metrics dip and his speed decrease to the point where he was a frequent healthy scratch in the postseason, falling behind multiple trade deadline pickups on the Toronto depth chart.
Numbers still show he’s an effective NHL defender, though, one that should benefit a Chicago defense that didn’t play much defense last year (outside of rookie standout Alex Vlasic).
He’s consistently controlled the majority of cumulative quality chances at even strength dating back to his Calgary days in the 2010s, and he averaged at least 21 minutes per game during his four years in Toronto.
He should do the same in Chicago, teaming up with Vlasic, Seth Jones, Alec Martinez and Kevin Korchinski to form a half-decent top-five group on the back end.
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