Chicago Blackhawks must move on from veteran defensemen this offseason

Depth has not been a problem for the Chicago Blackhawks on the blue line this season between the veterans and youth movement on the current roster. The team has dropped three games in four days off the Four Nations break, with the most recent defeat coming on the road against Utah on Tuesday.

While the intention from general manager Kyle Davidson this offseason was to shore the roster up with as much veteran talent as possible hoping it would lead to success, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. Chicago currently sits in last place in the Central division with 41 points and a 17-34-7 record.

If the focus hasn’t turned to next season and the general future for this organization, it soon will.

Some of the veterans occupying spots on the squad right now will either be shipped away at the trade deadline or could become roster cuts over the summer. One defenseman in particular who inked a two-year deal this past July should not see the ice in Chicago after this season.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to move off T.J. Brodie

T.J. Brodie’s first season in a Blackhawks sweater has been a tough one to watch. The 34-year-old has logged 52 games and has two goals to pair with his seven assists. Brodie’s brutal plus/minus mark of -20 on the year is the main statistic that has fans scratching their heads as to why he was brought in to begin with.

Brodie was a fourth-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 2008 out of Chatham, ON. He played 10 seasons with the Flames before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the 2020-21 season. His career-best plus/minus rating in a season came during the 2018-19 campaign with Calgary where he posted a +29 mark.

It can easily be drawn up that a big reason for Brodie’s poor plus/minus rating this year is due to how terrible the Blackhawks have looked. However, one can tell just by watching him play how lost and slow the veteran looks every shift. Many have called out the fact that Brodie always seems to be a step behind his assignment and because of that it leads to multiple defensive breakdowns at a time.

With the young crop of defensemen that will only grow more this summer, Chicago moving off Brodie whenever they can is the only logical decision to make. He is taking away valuable ice time for young players like Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, and even Kevin Korchinski which is not great especially when the Blackhawks have been a tough watch this season.

Dumping salary won’t be an issue with Brodie’s contract

Brodie’s two-year contract that he signed with Chicago this past summer is worth a total of $7.5 million. He will be owed $3.75 million next year and if the Blackhawks can’t find a trade partner for his deal, they’ll have to eat the money entirely.

Even though the front office is looking to get as much money off the books as possible for a big free agency class this summer, dumping Brodie might be worth it just so more of their young defensemen can develop at the NHL level as soon as possible.

Chicago has enough open cap space entering the offseason that they should still be able to pursue their desired free agents while not having to worry about keeping Brodie around for another year.